3

HE DIDN'T know what to do.

The Force wasn't there to guide him.

If it had been...

If Ezra had never rejected it... then it could have led him after Kanan.

But he had.

And now Kanan was gone.

It had taken months to repair what the Empire had destroyed in taking Ezra away. And some of it was still broken, perhaps never to be fixed.

But in a mere instant, it had been shattered to pieces again, and Ezra didn't know how to fit them back together... or even explain what had happened to his crew.

Explain. The idea of explaining tore Ezra apart even further. He imagined the faces of his friends and couldn't bear what he saw.

So he continued to sit alone on the building's edge, sobbing silently into his arms.

Gone. Kanan was gone. It just kept running through his head, over and over, bringing a fresh wave of pain upon him each time. It felt like he had only just gotten Kanan back, and now... Ezra had lost him all over again.

He was unaware of how many minutes had gone by when he finally raised his head, wiped his eyes and realized: crying wasn't going to solve anything.

He needed to think. Consider his options.

He needed to stop saying to himself that everything was over.

He could leave on his own, right now, and go after the bounty hunter.

Ezra dismissed that idea at once. If he had known where Shadow had gone, then he might have decided differently. But as it was, the answer was no. He needed the help of his crew, his family, to track him down.

And after what he had seen Shadow do all those years ago, he figured it really wasn't a good idea for him - or most people - to take that guy on anyway.

I need to suck it up and tell Hera what happened to Kanan... no matter how much it hurts.

Ezra heaved a sigh and slowly stood. Looking out one final time over the last place he had seen his beloved master, Ezra turned, then headed home.

***

Hera knew something was wrong the second Ezra Bridger stepped into the cockpit. The expression on the boy's suntanned face was the immediate warning. Devastated.

It was the same look Kanan had had when he had realized that Ezra wouldn't be returning from his op, over five months ago.

Hera leapt out of her chair and stared at him. "Ezra," she said urgently. "What's the matter? What happened?"

Ezra shakily inhaled and lowered his eyes.

"Hera," he whispered. "Please.. sit back down."

***

Shadow the bounty hunter swiftly leapt and sprinted over Lothal's rooftops, the Jedi gathered in his arms. How the Empire would be pleased. How my pockets will be jangling with credits. Shadow knew that, in the Clone Wars, Jedi had been worth ten thousand credits a head to the Separatists - who were now the richer-than-rich Empire. The knowledge that he was finally about to get a slice of some of that richness made him feel all tingly and exhilarated inside.

Happiness and excitement were new emotions.

Shadow decided that he didn't like them. Once he was rich, he figured he'd probably be able to have them removed.

Shadow gracefully jumped off the edge of a roof and landed soundly on his own two feet, in a crouch. He straightened slowly and glanced around underneath his beautifully remodeled, repainted, and formerly-Mandalorian helmet. He was now within the docking bay that matched the coordinates he'd been given. And there, a joy to behold indeed, was the Imperial freighter, sitting there and awaiting him.

Ugh. Joy again. Blech.

Shadow trotted towards the small ship, feeling a little chuckle beginning to well up inside him, a laugh of triumph. At long last, his metaphorical pockets (bounty hunters should never carry all of their money with them) would be brimming over with lovely golden credits, jingle jangle, sparkle sparkle. And at long last, the galaxy would grimace and tremble at the mere mentioning of Shadow the bounty hunter, Shadow, the captor of Jedi. Maybe he could even fudge the tale a little bit and say he had killed the Jedi. Oh, yes, Shadow the Jedi Killer did have a wonderful ring to it, did it not?

As he kept walking, his concealed gaze on the shuttle, Shadow remembered the first major Imperial job he'd proved himself worthy of (this one was his second), three years before. It had also been his first time on Lothal. Wonderful planet, Lothal. He hadn't realized until his return three days ago that he had missed it. During his original visit, Shadow had been disturbed by the peacefulness. Even the cities here were so much smaller and quieter than they were on Coruscant, the planet he officially resided on, and all of the other of the Core Worlds that he so frequented. But now, he'd finally noticed that he rather liked the change.

Shadow stopped before the shuttle, over with his quiet little reflection and more than ready to dump off this Jedi in exchange for heaps and heaps of cash. His arms were starting to ache, and he suspected that the credits would be lighter (and that the fully grown man he was holding had eaten extra space waffles for breakfast - no, EVERY breakfast).

He stared at the freighter expectantly for a moment. Then another moment, and another - until he realized that nothing was going to happen.

"Er.." Shadow lifted his voice until he was speaking at the top of his lungs. "Shadow the bounty hunter reporting in! Mission successful - I have your Jedi!" And I'm oh so ready to be filthy rich!

Again, he waited.

Nothing.

Shadow was just about to blow a gasket in confusion and anger when, all of a sudden, the docking bay began to fill with wind - from above. Shadow yelped in alarm and rapidly stepped backwards as a ship abruptly descended from the sky, blowing dust along with it. He backed against a wall to avoid being crushed in the small docking bay, his heart pounding in his ears - what was this?! The Imperials had told him nothing of this! All they had given him were the coordinates and instructions to wait by the shuttle once he had-

The ship masterfully landed beside the Imperial freighter with a hiss, breaking through Shadow's thoughts. He slowly opened his eyes to stare at the new ship.

And then his eyelids stretched wide beneath his helmet as its all-too-infamous appearance sunk in.

No.

No way.

This can't be happening. This isn't happening. Why is this happening-

Shadow knew everything he could possibly know about this ship, even though he had never seen it before, not even once. Manufactured by Kuat Systems Engineering - its green, brown, and gray exterior scraped and battered from numerous firefights in space - its model, Firespray-31-class patrol and attack craft, admirably modified - capable of blasting out seismic charges - laden with sixteen minelayers, proton torpedo tubes, two laser cannons - oh, the unmistakable shape...

Shadow felt like he might just wet his pants.

"The Slave I," he breathed hoarsely, staring in awe as the ship's hatch opened, and out climbed one of the deadliest and most renowned bounty hunters in the galaxy.

Shadow's idol.

Boba Fett.

The tall man, clad in full Mandalorian body armor, just as green and battered and laden with beautiful extra weapons as people whispered about, leapt down from the ship and turned to stare back at the younger bounty hunter on the other side of the docking bay.

Shadow suddenly inhaled. He hadn't realized his breath had frozen within him until he abruptly felt the desperate ache for air.

"Boba Fett, sir," he began, wincing at the squeak at the beginning of his sentence. How could the processor in his helmet alter his true voice, but not filter out the squeaks?! "I-I don't understand..why.. you're here-"

Boba strode forward, towards Shadow, deadly purpose in every powerful step. "Interesting. I'd have thought they would have filled you in."

"F-Filled me-"

The clone stopped just before Shadow and leaned closer. Shadow's heart almost stopped and every muscle in his body went rigid.

"..Shadow, is it... miss?"

Shadow just about died.

H-He KNOWS I'm really a -

But -

But nobody knows!

BOBA FETT KNOWS!

Oh, she should have known, if Boba was as attractively smart as he was rumored to be..

"Y-yes," Shadow managed.

"Our task, Shadow, is only one third complete. You have completed the first step - capture the Jedi, Kanan Jarrus. Well done."

Well done...!

"The second step is easy; we deliver him to the Empire, let them do with him what they will. But the third step, that's what I was hired for." Boba chuckled (Shadow practically swooned); then he lowered his voice and leaned even closer, so close that their helmets almost touched. (It was all she could do not to faint.) "We throw his crew off his scent. Screw with them. Knock them off, one by one. And, if possible.. we bag the Bridger kid, as well." He folded his arms across his chest. "Then we both get paid."

"H-how-"

Boba raised a hand and turned away. "I'll fill you in further over the com."

Shadow's eyebrows met, and she actually formed a steady and coherent sentence: "Wait, what about the freighter? Who's in there?"

"Nobody," Boba answered, leaping up onto the hatch of the Slave I. "That's your ship. I assume you can fly, right? 'Cause you're gonna have to - there's no way I'm letting any new associate into mine." He plopped down into the pilot's seat, letting his gloved fingers fall on the controls as the hatch began to close. "So get into it," the bounty hunter added, not bothering to wait for a reply. "I'm not waiting up."

***

BAM.

BOBA FETT.

ARE YOU ALL FANGIRLING AS HARD AS I AM?!

BECAUSE IT WAS REALLY, REALLY HARD FOR ME NOT TO LEAP UP AND START JUMPING UP AND DOWN IN EXCITEMENT! XD

Arty out for now!