Taking In An Orphan

Chapter 31

"What's a young kid like you doing in a place like this?" The voice asked next to Ezra's ear. The boy startled and turned around. He would have screamed, but he had been told to lay low, and he didn't want to disrupt Sabine and Zeb's trade. "Hey, don't I know ya from somewhere?"

The man had a bottle in hand and was swaying on the spot. He pointed a shaking hand at Ezra's face and smiled. Almost all of his teeth were missing.

Ezra backed up away from the man, remembering his rule to never talk to strangers.

"Tell me how I know you! Ain't you that kid them soldiers are lookin' for?" Still, Ezra didn't answer. He tried to make his way toward Sabine and Zeb, but the man blocked his path.

"Imma take you in to them soldiers and get me a few creds." The man stepped closer to Ezra. He remembered these types of guys from when he used to be on the run by himself. They would all be loud and mean-looking. But they wouldn't follow if he ran. So instinct took over and Ezra ran back down the alley, away from the man.

"Come back 'ere!" Ezra kept running, glancing back. He sped down a street and down another until he was sure he lost the man. He slowed to a stop and looked around, hoping to know where he was but he didn't see anything familiar. All the streets looked the same, crowded with people. Ezra was lost again

"That went so smoothly. Hera picked a good contact this time."

"It was only good 'cause we coughed up more credits than this thing's worth and he knew it," Zeb answered, glaring down at the small object in his hand.

"It doesn't matter. This is what's gonna save the ship. Unless you want another refreshing dive from a flying ship, then just be thankful we got it." As Sabine turned the corner of the alley, she announced, "Hey, Ez, we're all finished. Why don't we..." But Sabine never finished her sentence because Ezra was nowhere to be seen.

Zeb started freaking out first.

"Where did he go? He knows not to wander off. Hera's gonna kill us."

"He's got to be around here somewhere." Sabine spotted a man standing against the wall, swaying. "Hey, you! Have you seen a little boy with blue hair anywhere around here?"

"Why would I tell you?"

The man swung around, coming close to face Sabine, looking her in the eye with a drunken stare. Zeb reached over to pull Sabine back, putting himself in between Sabine and the man.

"Tell us or we'll make you wish you had never seen us."

"After his bounty, hmm?" The man asked with a sneer.

"What's it to you?"

"Well, good luck catchin' 'im. He's a fast runner, that one."

"And how do you know that?" Zeb stood up to his full height, tired of the man's games and worried about Ezra.

"Hey, he's yours," the man said, holding up his arms in surrender. "He ran that way."

Zeb just gave the man a glare before knocking the man out.

"Zeb!" Sabine said, giving him a Hera-level glare.

"He's so drunk, I probably did him a favor. Let's go." Zeb took off in the direction the man pointed, Sabine right after him.

Ezra heard shouting from a path behind him, so he took off in the opposite direction. He glanced behind him and immediately bumped into a white-suited figure.

"Watch where you are going, citizen! What do you think you are doing running around these parts? Step aside." The trooper took Ezra by the arm and pushed him away.

"Hey! You look like the escaped prisoner," another trooper said, studying the boy. Ezra began to back up, but he wasn't fast enough. The trooper grabbed his arm while the other pulled up a datapad with Ezra's photo on it. "That's him alright." The trooper aimed his gun at the boy.

"Fight against me and I won't hesitate to stun you. You may be a child, but the empire's looking for you for a reason."

Ezra froze, letting the man pull him along, watching the gun nervously. He couldn't let them take him away again. What would Kanan do? Ezra realized this was a silly question. Obviously Kanan would use the force. But Ezra didn't know how to do that yet, so he thought of what Zeb had taught him in his self-defense lessons. Ezra tried to aim a kick at the man, but the trooper held him out of kicking range. He continued, twisting his arms to get out of the man's grasp. The troopers yelled, starting to shoot at the boy. Ezra managed to dodge the few stun blasts sent his way, but another trooper grabbed him, this time holding him firmly.

"All units, we have an unruly escaped prisoner found, coordinates..."

"Help! 'Bine! Zeb!" The trooper next to him managed to set his gun to stun and shot at the boy. Ezra's world went dark.

"Help! 'Bine! Zeb!" Sabine heard the screaming from where they were. She and Zeb looked at each other before sprinting off in the direction of the little boy's screams. They heard gunshots and commotion. Quickening their step, they made their way up an alley. But right before Sabine could sprint out onto the main street, Zeb pulled her back, pointing out the group of troopers standing around Ezra's limp body.

"What did they do to him? We need to help him now, Zeb."

"Run out there and we'll get shot down right away. We need to come up with a plan."

"Like calling Hera?"

"Heck no, Sabine. Are you crazy? We can handle this."

"But Ezra could be hurt."

"There's no blood on him. And he's thankfully wanted alive, so they hopefully jus' stunned 'im." Zeb said, trying to convince himself. For once, he hoped that the bucket heads weren't as dumb as they usually were and checked the criminal logs to find that Ezra was wanted alive. He glanced around while Sabine moped, grumbling about how they didn't have a plan and were basically helpless.

Zeb spotted a small clearing with a group of Tie fighters in it.

"I have a plan." Zeb said after a moment.