Disclaimer: My name's certainly not affiliated with Star Wars in ANY matter, much less with Rebels.
Story: A slightly older, female Ezra is much more deeply entrenched in criminal matters, while honing her natural ability for Force healing. Can the crew of Ghost ever get her to join them, and if they do, how will changes affect the course of things?
Set as a genderbent AU.
Spoilers: Yeeess. Beware.
Warnings: Perverts, raunchy humor, weird humor, craziness, etc…Criminal activity, probably some violence, sexual situations, etc.
1/14/18: Pairings: Valen Rudor/Ezra, Agent Kallus/Ezra, maybe (probably) Alton Kastle/Ezra (because I've been writing him too adorkable to resist not writing him), one-sided Others/Ezra, Rex/Ahsoka Tano, Fenn Rau/Sabine Wren (because I really ship this and can't find anything for it), and Kanan/Hera.

A/n: IMPORTANT –This has been bugging me, but I usually let it go. Since a lot more people these days actually ask me for permissions to use my ideas and stuff, I would really like to say to people in this fandom (the PJO fandom is too far gone for me to ever ask this), stop stealing my ideas without asking and/or crediting me. Story ideas like all this gang stuff and especially incorporating it into Ezra's past? Mine. I was here when this archive barely had any stories and that wasn't even a thing. You know who you are. It's rude and it's been irritating me for years.

The Chronicles of E. Bridger: Girl at War
Chapter Eleven: A Collision of Personalities

Ezra's weak laugh collapsed into a series of coughs and she felt more than saw the others rush towards her.

"I'm –" she coughed, "fine. Really. It's just a lot of dust around."

"Fine," Kallus scoffed. "Is that how it looks being stuck underneath this thing?"

She grimaced and avoided looking at Kallus. Unfortunately, her eyes landed on Kanan, who didn't look too better either. His disapproving frown matched with his extremely worried countenance made her grimace again.

"She's hurt," Alton interrupted. "Her side was bleeding really bad. She said she could heal it enough to slow down the bleeding, but it's still injured."

That alarmed the others enough to almost converge on her again, though Kallus pushed past and made it to her injured side, examining it with a critical eye.

"What happened?" he demanded, looking straight into her eyes and she knew he was refusing anything but the truth.

She sighed. "Vizago wanted the other two gangs out of the way. He was tired of all the turf battles and the other gangs trying to invade or steal his territories, so he had his gang all gathered up and announced this gang war. He had me and two others specifically go out to get the bases and bosses, but Scairt –the boss I was responsible for in this base –went practically suicidal and blew up his own office. Everything caved into the base's underground level and I fell into the huge underground hole with the rubble. As you can see," her voice went slightly sarcastic, "my side got injured and I got trapped under this concrete slab. I'm pretty sure my legs are broken or slightly crushed." She winced.

"I wouldn't be quite sure," Kanan said cryptically, though he did glance at Alton and she figured he meant something about the Force helping out in some way to prevent that kind of devastating injury.

"Why didn't you heal yourself more? Or get this slab off of you?" Valen asked. She barely glanced at his fretting face before looking away.

"I don't have enough energy and I'm pretty injured," she admitted. "My side was really worse off. I thought of healing my side, but I'd still be trapped and unable to move. I was thinking of healing my legs and rushing for help for my side, but I'd still have to move this damn thing off of me," she gestured to the slab.

"And I didn't have strength for it," she shrugged. Ezra glanced at Kanan. "Or the training," she added on carefully. "I wasn't sure I could heal myself in the first place."

"She told me that she had only enough energy to slow down the bleeding," Alton elaborated, reiterating his earlier statement. "Said she'd be out of it or unconscious and I promised to keep watch. Told me to shoot first, which I did," he said proudly, giving one of his renowned smiles to Ezra.

"That you did," Ailyn finally said something, voice full of sarcasm. "You missed completely."

Alton became flustered, a frown forming on his face towards her when Ezra cut in.

"Good job, Alton," she said. "You kept watch like I'd hope you would. Even though I did want you to shoot first because I knew if it had been one of the other gangsters they would've shot first, you managed to keep it together and do what you were supposed to."

Ezra mentally banged her head against a wall, wondering why in Lothal she was praising the guy. But then he was straightening up and back to giving her one of his charming smiles, and she remembered that for some reason her opinion mattered to him and the guy was attached to her.

She'd heard him calling her a superhero under his breath a few times…?

"I was a lousy shot though," he mumbled, glancing at the others. He gave her a side-look. "But you knew that, didn't you?"

"I figured," she answered unapologetically. "If it was an enemy, your first shots would have made me conscious enough and let me get ready to start firing back. On the other hand, if it was an ally, you'd miss and there would be no harm done," she grinned cheekily at him.

"Of course that would be your thoughts," Valen snorted.

"Ugh, I really hope all this gang stuff is over," Kanan let out a huge exasperated groan.

"It should be," Kallus said sharply. "After this, you're supposed to be working as my aide and not have to deal with all this so much."

"So long as I don't have to play Blaster, Datapad, and Sabersword," Ezra grumbled to everyone's amusement but also confusion. She huffed. "That's how I got into this predicament. The other two made me play for who gets which base. Apparently I 'won' and got to be alone because I picked datapad."

Valen and Alton nodded. "The bane of everything."

Kallus paused before nodding. "Datapad wins."

Kanan snorted, though he then looked thoughtful. "I did really hate doing all that paperwork when I was…" he trailed off after looking at Alton.

Ailyn just looked confused while Ezra was just plain exasperated. "Of course you guys would agree. Can we get this slab off of me now?"

"Right!" Kanan got into gear. "Kallus, Rudor, grab hold of either side of it. I'll do most of the heavy lifting, so to speak, but it'll help if you two were to help somewhat."

Kallus and Valen nodded, while Ailyn watched with calculating eyes. Alton looked lost, but currently no one was willing to fill him in completely about Ezra and Kanan's Force-ability statuses.

"Do me a favor, ignore Vizago next time," Kanan told her while starting to concentrate.

Ah, the full lecture. She knew it was coming.

"Yeah," Valen said. "We were worried. I almost got in trouble with Solarlast because I slipped about your gender and all trying to find you, and got a warning to not slip up anymore. I'd appreciate a heads up when you do things like this, so I won't panic so much."

"Or not do it at all," Kallus' tone was definitely showing how angry he was about all this. "Be a little less reckless for all our sakes, won't you? I'm not old enough to start producing gray hair."

Ezra flinched. "Sorry. I am reckless. I'll…try not to be." No promises though. She just couldn't help it sometimes.

"Good luck on that," Ailyn told her in amusement, obviously not buying it.

The concrete slab was slowly but surely getting moved off of her, which was a relief to Ezra so that she could finally feel a little bit better and less crowded in on.

Alton stayed quiet, watching the proceedings and not making a comment about seeing a huge concrete slab seemingly being moved into the air and off of her, even though Kallus and Valen helped it get off of her enough for Kanan to take hold of it and begin to move it by himself. It wasn't totally high and it wasn't moved too far away, but Kanan managed to move it off of her and to the side.

"I'm a bit rusty," Kanan said sheepishly.

Ezra grinned at him, waving it off. "No, that was still way cool. I can't wait to learn that."

"We'll probably have to stay here a while to allow Ezra to heal up and gather energy," Kanan informed the others.

"That's fine," Kallus agreed.

"I'll leave first, let Vizago know what's going on and that you'll be along soon," Ailyn said.

She came over and briefly embraced a still sitting Ezra, before she was gone and had left them behind.

"So why are you here?" Valen turned to Alton in confused curiosity.

Alton blushed. "Um, I'm unable to get back through the hole I jumped into to get in here."

That made Ezra's lips twitch, remembering that. But it looked like that wasn't what the others wanted to know.

"No, I meant what are you doing here? Why did you come here in the first place?" Valen said, looking at Alton weirdly.

"I wanted to check on her," Alton pointed at Ezra. "Only I didn't know he was a her."

But that only served to make the others warier and more confused. And looking at Kallus, Ezra could add suspicious and tense.

Alton swallowed. "Um, earlier, I was sent to report on the gang war and ran into her. She was in her disguise and she'd saved me before taking on all those people. When I saw the base collapse after I saw her go in, I got worried and went after her. I found her and found out my mystery savior was a girl, and stayed here trying to help."

They didn't completely understand his reasoning, but they did manage to read his sincerity. It probably didn't help how out of sorts and disheveled he looked, compared to his usual impeccable appearance on the HoloNet. For as long as Ezra knew of the HoloNet reporter, Alton Kastle had always maintained a very groomed, clean cut image that had helped convince the masses of all the Empirical-supportive reporting he spouted.

She'd been bitter and resentful of that, up until she met the guy and realized how much of an actual softhearted…dork? –that he really was. It was hard to make her head reconcile that with what she'd thought she knew about the other.

"I'm pretty sure that Rex and Asajj should be done by now," Ezra noted, deciding to just switch subjects. Before Kallus and Valen, she didn't used to be so sympathetic towards Imperials, damn it!

Kanan scrunched up his eyebrows. "Rex and Asajj? Why do those names sound familiar?"

"Do they?" Ezra shrugged, starting to slowly heal her legs now that she felt a little better and more perked up than earlier. "I've known them since I was a kid and joined Vizago's gang. I have a theory that Rex was an old clone from back in the day, and that both him and Asajj knew each other from then."

That made Kanan pale as it clicked for him. "You…you don't know for sure, do you?"

Ezra finished with one leg thankfully. "No, not really. Like I said, it's just a theory. Why?"

"There was a clone commander that worked closely with Master Kenobi and Master Skywalker, and who was nicknamed Rex. Asajj…was a powerful and skilled Dark Side user that fought against Master Kenobi. I don't recall whatever happened to either of them after the Republic's fall."

Ezra started to work on the other leg, thinking about it. "Rex is pretty good at hand-to-hand and blaster shooting. He's the one who's given me lessons all these years in those. He also wears old clone armor. Asajj gives me lessons in Jar'kai. They don't much get along."

"Would it be a bad thing if those two are who you think they are?" Alton interrupted, asking Kanan hesitantly.

"I can't stand clones," Kanan said angrily and Ezra winced. "And Dark Side users are dangerous. Asajj Ventress was renowned for her skill in double-light saber combat and was a dangerous foe then. If she's still as good, then I don't know if I can defend against her, even with your help."

Finally done, Ezra tested the use of her legs, unsteadily getting up. Kallus, who had been quiet so far, firmly grabbed onto her and steadied her, though he glanced at Kanan thoughtfully.

Ezra sighed and shook her head. "Look, as far as they are now –even if they were the same people you think they are –right now they're nothing but bitter, reticent mercenaries. They're working for Vizago of all people."

"Let's get out of here," Kallus said and Ezra was thankful for it. She could tell Kanan was still disgruntled about this and hadn't completely stopped freaking out, but focusing on leaving would keep him occupied for now.

They walked over to the hole that Alton had come in at, which was much closer to them than the one Kallus and the others had gone through. Glancing at Alton, who looked hesitant up at the hole, she shook her head and grabbed onto him.

"Stick with me, will you? I'm afraid you'll just end up tripping and breaking your neck around here if you were left on your own."

Honestly, she felt like that might actually come true.

They finally left and made their way back tiredly, ending up at a brothel. Alton looked at the building bizarrely, but no one ended up filling him in. However, he ended up putting it together himself as they entered and he saw all the injured and recovering gang members. This was probably this Vizago's headquarters of some sort, and where Ezra (funny how he only found out her name after the others came and called out to her) was regrouping with the others. He wondered about the outcome of this gang war and whether or not Ezra's boss was successful. He also wondered about this odd little group, of which the likes of two Imperials, an obvious rebel, and his heroine (but obviously a criminal) were a part of.

That and he was still confused about how she could heal herself and how that other man was able to move that concrete slab; he did have an inkling that he kept his mouth shut on for now.

Alton wasn't an idiot. Far from it. But he also knew how to play his cards. His best bet right now was to keep things close to his 'vest' and not reveal his hand, and obviously he was in enemy territory too. It wouldn't do to make a fuss and probably get roughed up (or worse).

"You okay?" Ezra whispered to him, nudging his arm.

He blinked and gave her a wide smile, trying to channel as much of his charm as he could, despite his current state. He didn't want her to think he was a slob or something.

"I'll be fine," he whispered back. "Tired and sore in places I'm not used to, but okay." He looked around warily. "If a bit…unsure about my surroundings."

Her lips twitched up and she lightly pushed at his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be here to protect you from the big bad gangsters," she teased.

Even though he blushed a bit, he was practically beaming. But then one of the others, Baron Valen Rudor he saw, pushed past him and grabbed onto Ezra's hand. He tossed Alton a narrowed gaze before stalking forward with Ezra and beginning to talk about how he finally managed to get her assigned as his personal mechanic, after some initial problems at the main factory. He raised his eyebrows at that, though he was also a bit miffed at the man's attitude towards him.

What was his problem?

"Ezra! Thank the Makers you're alright," they were greeted by, further into the building. The Devaronian that met them strode forward, though Agent Kallus and Baron Rudor shifted to move protectively in front of Ezra. The man named Kanan simply looked amused by the other two, so Alton guessed that this person wasn't someone that was too much of a threat.

"Cikatro," Ezra greeted dryly, while Kanan greeted him with "Late to the party, Vizago." Agent Kallus and Baron Rudor didn't bother to greet him at all.

Ah, but so this was the head of this particular gang and Ezra's boss then.

The reporter glanced around, making note of things and generally being observant as much as he could. He kept quiet and let the others handle things, and probably blending in the background until he was going to be brought up. And indeed, after Ezra finished her report to the Devaronian, he caught sight of Alton and looked caught off guard.

"What the kriff is Alton Kastle doing here?"

"I picked up a stray," Ezra answered with a straight face and he almost couldn't help starting to smile.

Vizago threw an annoyed look at her, before turning back to him and scrutinizing him closely. Before he could start in on Alton, he decided to speak up first. Putting on his best smile and looking as congenial as he could, Alton straightened up and held out a hand.

"Hello, good sir. I'm Alton Kastle of HoloNet. I'd like to get an exclusive with you and this young lady," he gestured to Ezra, who looked taken aback.

Kanan was giving him a raised brow, but Agent Kallus had his typical indifferent face on, while Baron Rudor was frowning at him. Vizago looked surprised before utter delight appeared on him, and Alton decided that he managed to skew things in his favor, more so since he was getting prime, exclusive news.

Also, it meant more time with his hero.

"Sounds like a fantastic idea, Mr. Kastle! I'd love for you to report on my victory and spread the news around Lothal," Vizago sported a rather sharkish grin that Alton didn't flinch at. He'd had to deal with plenty of people like that before in his interviews. He could handle this Vizago.

Just then, before anyone could do or say anything else, the door to the private room they were talking in burst open and two people shuffled in. Dirty, grumbling, and bloodied, the armored man and pale woman stopped at the threshold and stared at the rest of them inside.

"Bad timing, Rex, Asajj," Ezra sighed loudly.

Started 1/7/18 – Completed 1/15/18

A/n: Now this has been a long time since updating! Ah geez. Hope you guys still like this story. To be honest, I mostly stopped (didn't lose interest of course) but didn't prioritize this because back then, the beginning of the fandom and this archive was really against some of my favorite characters (like Kallus). These days though, they're much more popular and have more fans, so I'm hoping a lot more people will come to like this story now. Please remember to review!