Author's Note: This is the final installment of what I am simply going to refer to as the "Prison Arc". This dark stuff is horrible depressing to write. So much so, I didn't want to stop writing tonight until I got to a happy ending. As such: be warned! There are HUGE SPOILERS for the "Fires Across the Galaxy" episode. Also, a ton of the dialogue at the end of this is straight from that same episode, and as such it belongs to its respective owners. There is a tad more than lifted dialogue than I am comfortable with, but I can't think of a way to move this chapter along smoothly without it.

As always, I make no income from this. I just really enjoy writing. In this case, I wrote this chunk of the episode out (and added my extra bits) specifically because people requested my take on the characters' inner thoughts during these events. With that said, PrincessCadence2012 and random Guest (the second edition), this is for you guys.

Fear

The light saber hummed in dark gloved hands, passing lazily through the air as the Inquisitor stared at a point beyond its reach. "You were right to be afraid. You couldn't save your master then, and you can't save your followers now," he finished his latest soliloquy, diplomacy his latest tactic in loosening the Jedi's tongue. When his prisoner remained silent, the Inquisitor turned off the saber with a dejected sigh. "You are a stubborn fool, Jedi," the Inquisitor hissed, his finger hovering over a pitch black switch. The Jedi, Kanan, grimaced as his captor traced around the switch in a lazy circle. A smile tugged the Inquisitor's lips, relishing the brief display of fear from his prisoner. Feigning disinterest, the Dark Jedi apprentice stroked his chin, tapping the same finger idly against thin lips. "You know, I am feeling generous today. Give me one piece of information…anything you choose. Give me a name, a place, the call number of a ship. Anything your heart desires, Jedi, and – provided I find your remarks useful – I will end our little session early."

The Kanan's eyebrows drew and his lips drew back from his teeth in a fierce scowl, "I somehow doubt your integrity." The words sounded strained to the Inquisitor's ears, laced with pain and…fear? Ah! Such a deliciously dark emotion fear was, and how useful a tool.

Casually laying a hand on the control panel, near the black switch, the Inquisitor's smile grew as the Jedi tensed in his restraints. "Do not dismiss my offer so lightly, Jedi. Even now, the fleet draws closer to our destination. Soon enough, you will face the prison cells on Mustafar. Speak now, and I will end your suffering before we reach the planet."

An incredulous look fell upon the Jedi's features and he turned his head nearly imperceptibly towards his captor, "And risk angering your Imperial masters?"

Dropping his hand from the console with a smile revealing sharp, yellowed teeth, the Inquisitor turned. His other hand seemingly appeared from nowhere, striking like a snake at Kanan's neck. Thin fingers curled inwards, their thinness belying an ineffable strength. Kanan gasped, his heart racing as air suddenly became a premium commodity, body going rigid against his restraints as his head snapped back in an instinctive bid to lessen the pressure against his windpipe. The Inquisitor maintained his grip, eyes of molten gold boring into eyes of spring green.

As the contest of wills wore into a second minute, on its way to a third, the green eyes began to lose focus. Reflexes lagged and taunt muscles loosened as oxygen deprivation took its toll. The Inquisitor held tight for a few seconds longer, enjoying the feeling as the pulse beneath his grasping fingers slowed in perceptible increments. Then, just as Kanan's head began to lull against his hand, the Inquisitor released his deadly grip and slapped the Jedi hard.

Kanan gasped, a breath belabored only by the solid band holding him upright.

The Inquisitor waited as the Jedi sucked in several such breaths, color slowly returning to extremities that had begun to blue. When green eyes once again met eyes of gold, the Inquisitor smiled his coldest smile. "Life is a frail thread, Jedi, and I am a sharpened blade. Accidents happen during interrogation. Remember that."

Turning on his heel, the Inquisitor sauntered out the door, leaving Kanan alone to ponder the offer of release.

In the end, meditation is the release Kanan sought. Delving deep inside to shore up defenses the Inquisitor had undoubtedly shaken, before turning his senses outward in a fool's errand – searching for his distant Padawan. Ever since his contact with Ezra what seemed an eternity ago, Kanan kindled a secret fire of hope for a rescue.

True, time apparently ran in short supply with no telling how close the fleet truly was to Mustafar. Kanan felt sure setting foot on that particular planet spelled his doom. No Jedi escaped those fabled prisons. Not alive, anyway. Pushing the thought away with a determination born of three parts stubborn tenacity and one part desperation, Kanan focused solely on reaching up and out.

Just as he had taught Ezra, he constructed a fine meshed net of awareness, designed to pass like a feather across waking perception. Carefully, he created holes where he knew the Inquisitor sat, eating in the mess hall. Multiple attempts at searching gave Kanan a keen sense of the Inquisitor's current schedule and, this time, he wanted to avoid detection. Finishing the net in record time, Kanan gave the net a firm cast out in all directions, preparing mentally for the long process of searching signature by signature for the light the represented his Padawan.

The net was scarcely out a minute when Kanan's eyes shot open in surprise. Not a parsec beyond the star destroyer's hull, his net met with a particular kind of resistance that meant only one thing: a net incoming from the other direction. Kanan dropped his net and grabbed onto the other, tracing it backwards even as Ezra traced the unexpected contact forwards. The met in the middle, as it were, both equally surprised to find the other so easily.

Then, as quickly as the contact came open, it closed from Ezra's end. Kanan frowned, uncertain what had happened. Carefully, he examined the ends of the thread Ezra dropped so suddenly, teasing out bits of emotion in the process. Worry gave way to surprise, and surprise into a burst of sheer delight. Not surprising to the Jedi given how the last contact ended, filled with pain and a knurly whiplash of power Ezra surely realized struck Kanan hardest. Yet, overlaying the length of thread Ezra so recently held was another feeling...a sense of…. What? Was that sensation of forward motion anticipation? Determination? … And why was Ezra so close to the ship?

A puzzle piece clicked and Kanan smiled. "They're here."

His tiny fire of hope grew into an inferno. Unfortunately, such inferno must have made waves in the Force because a certain Pu'uan returned to investigate. ""So, have you reached a decision then, Jedi?"

Kanan stifled a laugh threatening to bubble up from his gut and plastered his best smirk on his face, "Not at all, Inquisitor. I just realized your face looks like this ugly pair of pants my mother made me wear to feast days is all. I was just wondering if those lines might look better if I spilled a little ink on them too."

The Inquisitor snarled, jabbing the black switch with unabashed zeal.

When the electricity came, Kanan bore them in a silence born of patient anticipation. One round of electrical shocks came and went. Two rounds and then three. The Inquisitor sighed, "No screams for me, Jedi? Either you have accepted your fate completely or -."

Realization dawned on the Inquisitor's face even as the ship began to shake and the power shifted to auxiliary sources, calling an end to the electrical torment. Kanan let his head fall back against the vertical table, mentally alert but physically spent. "They're here," the Inquisitor practically purred, "How predictable."

Without another word, the Dark Jedi apprentice sprinted through the cell door and out into the ship. New prey required his attention elsewhere. Behind him, Kanan smiled, "Predictable? So says the one who left the door unlocked. I predict a solid thrashing if you cross my path, Inquisitor."

The next few moments passed in a blink for Kanan. Either his team moved that quickly, or he simply fell unconscious. Either way, the next thing Kanan knew the cell door swished open to reveal a cocky figure in orange: his Padawan. Ezra sauntered in, "Turns out you taught me pretty well."

Kanan opened his eyes and shook his head slightly, "You shouldn't have come here, but I am glad you did."

"You would have done the same for me. In fact, you have." Ezra pressed a button, releasing Kanan from his confinement…and reintroducing him to the harsh mistress of gravity. Kanan's long stint of standing coupled with repeated shocks over the span of his captivity left his nerves screaming sheer agony. Just so, his legs refused to bear his full weight.

Ezra caught him as gravity took hold, glancing once at Kanan in worry as he escorted him up the steps and out into the corridor of the ship.

A short time later, on route to the hanger where the crew of the Ghost waited, light sabers hummed to life. Kanan drew deeply on the Force to supplement his own diminished reserves, enmeshing himself so deeply in its flow he vaguely felt his Padawan's astonishment as he ran forward. "I will have to teach him this trick…after I sleep the effects of it off later," Kanan thought, just before he feinted, switch Ezra's weapon from saber to blaster and back again in the blink of an eye.

The Inquisitor blocked the incoming blaster fire, as Kanan expected. If the move had worked against one Force shrouded for battle, he would have been truly surprised. So, Kanan followed through, stepping under the Inquisitor's guard and out again. Slashing as he moved, he pushed the Dark Jedi back on the defensive before their blades locked forcing him to dodge backwards himself. Blasting at the Inquisitor from far away, switching back to the saber up close, Kanan ran. He stayed in constant motion and offered the smallest target possible. Then, the Inquisitor jumped.

Up and over he flew, past the reach of Kanan's borrowed saber as he placed himself squarely between the Jedi and his Padawan. Fear welled for a moment, countless scenes of death repeating in the Jedi's mind from his long torment. He paused only a moment, then flicked his saber in challenge, desperate to keep the Pu'uan's attention away from his apprentice. The volley began anew, lasting only a moment before Kanan found himself hard pressed to break a potentially fatal deadlock, his enemy's saber held inches from his neck by strength alone.

Ezra took advantage of the distraction, making a move of his own, which Kanan both applauded and bemoaned: he stole Kanan's saber from the Inquisitor's belt and thumbed it active.

Now, the Inquisitor fought on both sides. "At last, a fight that might be worthy of my time," the Inquisitor crooned. The dual blade of the Inquisitor's blade came active with a hiss as both Jedi and Padawan converged in a storm of whirling blades.

The Inquisitor forced Ezra back a step, focused briefly on Kanan, stepped back to force Ezra to block again. Back and forth, step for step, a dance of deadly symmetry. It did not take long for the Inquisitor to realize the hesitance in Ezra's moves, mimicry of grace the boy was not yet suited to wear. His stance was too narrow, his arms too stiff. How best to focus on the more competent opponent first?

Pushing Kanan on the defensive, the Dark Jedi caught Kanan's saber on his own blade and spun to face the Padawan, shoving Ezra with the Force hard enough to send him sprawling. Kanan retaliated, redoubling his efforts, ducking and dodging to buy time for Ezra to regain his feet until the Inquisitor kicked him, then used the Force to push him away as well. "Perhaps I should deal with the whelp first. One never fairs well with an enemy at his back."

With nary a second thought, the Inquisitor spun on his heel and threw his saber in a whirling arc towards the vulnerable Padawan. Having just regained his feet, Ezra saw the blade coming and brought his saber up to guard, but it was a fraction of a second too late. The incoming saber deflected from its course, but not far enough. Coupled with its impact and an overbalance in his swing, Ezra lost his footing and tumbled from the catwalk with a wordless cry.

"No!" The cry tore from Kanan's throat, his hand coming up to reach for the boy so far from his grasp.

The Inquisitor smiled and watched as Kanan crawled to the catwalk's edge, peering at the deck a hundred feet below. "Do you see you precious Padawan down there Jedi, bleeding his life away? You will follow him soon, I promise."

Meanwhile, Kanan reeled. Throughout the fight, he carefully held on to Ezra's presence in the Force. While this started as a way to keep his sense of direction centered as he danced the dance of dodge and parry across the catwalk, it became a source of strength as well. Ezra's life rang across the tides of the Force, giving Kanan assurance and strength. Ezra was here. This was really happening. This was not just another nightmare.

Yet, as Ezra tumbled from the catwalk, Kanan felt as though reality upended, temporarily dumping him back into those gruesome nightmares. Quick as thought, he cast a mental net beyond the catwalk and found…nothing. Ezra's resounding note had fallen silent. Was he unconscious? Kanan spent an extra, anxious moment scanning the ground below and saw nothing but cargo containers. If Ezra had fallen in one of those, he would not even see a splash of red to betray the boy's location.

Kanan closed his eyes to thought and took a deep breath, bottling his emotions into a compact bundle. Slowly, he stood to face the Inquisitor who still stood grinning like a cat who saw a mouse in a trap. Kanan should have felt something then, anger, hatred, or even sorrow. Instead, he felt an empty void where Ezra's presence once resided, into which the Force quickly rushed. "That was a mistake," he growled to the smiling idiot planted so firmly in his way.

"Why?" The Inquisitor crowed, "Because you have no one left to die for you?"

"No. Because I have nothing left to fear."

Kanan reached out with the Force, snatching his light saber from the catwalk where Ezra dropped it. Sabers of twined blue hummed to life in his hands, and the battle began anew.

The Inquisitor stumbled back, one step after another. Each attack he launched against the Jedi met with nothing but air as the insufferable man slipped and slid out of reach. His speed bordered on precognition, and for the first time in years the Inquisitor felt fear of a Jedi.

In his long years of service to the Empire, he had hunted Jedi across the galaxy, rooting them out of every dive and hole they chose to nest in. He made his name in the Empire by deducing his quarry's next step after a short conversation or a few observations. When you wanted a Jedi found or needed to break a stubborn prisoner, you called the Inquisitor who always got the desired results. He specialized in dragging answers from his victims, often demolishing entire cells of resistance upon the capture of a single Jedi. Yet this one, this flaming brand held so close to his skin, threatened to turn his vaunted name to ashes. Worse, the smoke of such a brand could not help but draw the notice of someone much worse than the apprentice…his Master.

Just so, the Inquisitor went on the attack as often as he was able, slashing and stabbing with intent to strike the menacing Jedi down…but the man kept coming! The Inquisitor stepped behind a ring of consoles, hoping to buy some distance and a moment to think. The Jedi followed, cutting through the console in his haste to reach the frightened Inquisitor. The Jedi fired at him using that bastardized saber, and the Inquisitor was forced to leap for his life. Unfortunately, the somersault ended in precarious footing at the furthest edge of the catwalk.

"You were right," the Jedi said as he advanced, "I was a coward." The Inquisitor sneered. The Jedi took another step forward, trapping him on the edge. "But now I know there is something far stronger than fear. Far stronger. The Force."

Only one escape remained possible, a risky chance given this particular prey's abilities, but the Inquisitor took his last and best chance. Grasping the specialized hilt of his double saber, he flicked a hidden switch. In an instant, the blades began circling the hilt in greater and greater speeds. The Jedi did not have a corner on the custom weapon department, after all. The Jedi did not even flinch.

"Let me show you how strong it is," he continued his speech, calmly stabbing his twin sabers in the center of the whirling wall of red, where the Dark Jedi's hilt joined. With a flick of the Jedi's wrist, the hilt separated and the whirling red blades fell, as did the Inquisitor who grabbed frantically at the edge. Far below, the sabers struck a plasma generator, reacting with the energy there to cause an instant ball of fire.

The Jedi loomed above him now, blue blades crossed at the Inquisitor's neck to keep him from pulling himself up. The Inquisitor felt a laugh brewing, but fear gobbled it up and replaced it with a cackle which rose from the flames to taunt him: the insane laughter of the Emperor on his distant throne. Behind that, yet another sound seemingly carried through the Force to send shivers down his spine. A sound promising torment far worse than any nightmare he unleashed on the Jedi. After all, all apprentices learn their craft from one greater than they.

True fear clutch the Inquisitor's heart, turning the very marrow of his bones to ice. "You have no idea what you've unleashed here today." The Jedi turned off his sabers, listening to what the Inquisitor had to say. The final statement gave him pause. "There are some things far more frightening than death."

With no more warning, the Inquisitor let go of the platform and the flames swallowed him whole.

Time slipped Kanan's grasp as he stared into the flames. The intense heat rising up to the colder climbs of the large hanger sparked random spurts of ball lightening. He watched these and pondered the Inquisitor's last words, wondering what terror pushed the Dark Jedi to his suicidal course. True, Kanan would not have let him back onto the platform. Not after what he had done to…to Ezra.

A lump formed his Kanan's throat a mile larger than he could swallow, and Kanan fought to dampen his emotions for just a little longer. Ezra might be gone, but Hera and the rest of the crew still needed him. He needed to escape this flaming maelstrom. Focusing instantly on this monumental task, Kanan failed to hear the footsteps approaching him, or to hear his name called repeatedly in a gently insistent voice.

"Hey, Kanan," the voice paused, "Kanan?"

Slowly Kanan rose and turned, sure his senses deceived him. He reached out through the Force as he moved, sending a silent question, "Ezra?"

Reassurance flooded through the Force in reply as Ezra lowered every defense for Kanan's careful inspection. The Padawan was not sure what had been done while Kanan was captive, but the waves of emotional hurt roiling off him needed soothing and trust was all he had to offer. The exchange lasted only a moment, but in the end Kanan smiled, "I thought I had lost you."

"I know the feeling," was the sincere reply, "Now, let's go home."