Battle for Earth - REWRITE(A Star Wars Rebels Story)

Comfort in a not-so-stranger's Arms

Athena rounded a corner and continued on through the dark streets of St. Louis. The echoes of distant car horns and small explosions - probably a mixture of either gunshots or fireworks - filling the deserted road she tread through. Every step, a small puddle would explode with the force of her body against the street. It smelled of rotten plywood and wet cement.

She eyed the dying orange street light just up ahead. Flickering as it struggled to stay on.

She put her hands in her pocket and slightly lifted her chin up and to the right as she eyed the street's ending corner.

"You aren't the best at being inconspicuous."

"Ah, I try."

The figure engulfed in shadows emerged from the shelter of the street lamp. His hands in his pockets.

"Do or do not, there is no try," she said with a hint of humor in her voice.

"They drilled that damn phrase in your head too, huh?" he replied, a chuckle in his voice.

"You follow me a lot."

"You get in a lot of trouble."

"I imagine the same for you," she eyed the figure walking towards her now.

He stopped a few yards in front of her, hands still in his pockets.

She did not need any light to figure out who the fallen Jedi in front of her was. She could tell by his voice, an accent very similar to the one shared amongst Imperials. His height was slightly shorter than Kanan and Onthant, but far taller than herself.

"You followed us all the way to St. Louis?" Athena eyed the man in front of her.

He shrugged, "I kept plenty of distance. None of you ever knew I was there."

She was silent.

"Well, except for you that is," he chuckled.

"What are your intentions?" she asked, her fingers tracing the hilt of her lightsaber resting in her hoodie pocket. "To kill Kanan? Rae? Ezra? My dad?"

"I'm just..." he struggled for the words. "...trying to keep a promise to your mother. Though I'm pretty late, I intend on keeping that promise."

"That promise being?"

"Making sure you and your brother aren't hurt or killed,"Jalo said. "It was a promise I made thirty years ago: to protect her kid. I imagine she'd want that promise to transfer over to the next runt she birthed."

"I don't think I need much protecting," Athena coldly stated. "You probably need protection from me more than anything."

He paused in a moment. She could sense the fear radiate off him. "You figured out what happened on Lola Sayu."

Athena let out a shaky breath. "You need to stay away from me. It's suicide to be near me for too long. You put yourself at enough risk when you got me off that planet."

"It could be worse," he said. "I could be on your bad side."

"Who says you aren't?"

"You," he nodded. "You wouldn't warn me to get away if you really wanted me dead."

She coldly stared at him. Her eyes were dead. "How...tell me how you live it? How do you live this life knowing you were once a monster? A pawn of the Empire made for killing? As Second Brother?"

"Well, for the first while, I drowned most of those thoughts out with booze and drugs," Jalo shrugged. "Though, that was just about the worst idea I ever had up to that point."