Hera didn't even bother knocking one Kanan's bedroom door before opening it. Kanan, meditating on his bed, opened his eyes to look at her.

Hera. Shouldn't you already be aslee…'

She cut him off. You better have a good excuse of why you haven't noticed your padawan's injuries Kanan, because I am not in the mood for this."

"Injuries? What are you talking about?" The Jedi was perplexed by both her words and her attitude.

The twi-lek crossed her arms. "I'm talking about the fact that the kid's in the common room right now, with at least one broken rib and a wound that needs to be stitched up. So help me Kanan, if I didn't need you to come and take care of him you would be dead right now."

"Are you serious?" Kanan was stunned. The child had not shown any sign of pain, anything to suggest a hidden injury.

"I am perfectly serious." She sighed. "And he tried to convince me not to tell you. You scared that poor kid out of his mind. Go in there and take care of that boy. And don't you even think of getting mad at him. That's the last thing he needs."

"Alright I'm going, I'm going." Kanan scrambled off the bed and was out the door, Hera on his heels.

….

Hera gasped in shock as they entered the common room. Her companion froze at the sight before them.

Ezra was sitting awkwardly on the couch. He held a threaded needle in one hand, his other pressing against his side as he craned his neck, trying to get a proper view of the wound. His head jerked up as the door hissed open. Seeing them, he gave a sheepish grin.

"Ummm…Hi?"

Kanan was the first to move. He strode forward and yanked the needle out of the youth's hands.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Ezra flinched at the angry tone in the man's voice. His reply wasn't any less snarky though.

"Duh, isn't it obvious?" He immediately looked away, waiting for the yelling to began. He was surprised to hear a soft breath of resignation instead.

"Oh Ezra." Kanan shook his head wearily. "What am I going to do with you?" He knelt, studying the youth's side.

"Did you even numb it?" His answer was simply the rise and fall of Ezra's shoulders. He gave another sign.

"Alright, It'll be easier to treat if you lay down. Think you can make it to my room?"

Stunned, Ezra stared at him. What happened to the angry, screaming Jedi that was there not even two hours before? He finally remembered to speak.

"Uh, sure, easy." He rose to his feet. Almost as soon as he took a step he stumbled and started to fall forward. He braced himself for impact, but felt hands grab at him and stopped his descent.

Hera touched his arm. "You okay?" Ezra nodded. He gently pulled away from the warm hands and stood on his own as proof. He grinned weakly.

"See? No big deal." He headed toward the Jedi's quarters, the older rebels not far behind.

Once there, Ezra gingerly stretched out on the bed while Kanan prepared a syringe. Hera sat down near Ezra's head, the bed dipping slightly at the added weight. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. Ezra was tempted to jerk away from her touch, unused to physical contact. But at the same time it felt soothing, calming his raw nerves.

Kanan injected the numbing medication into Ezra's side. After waiting a moment to make sure the medicine had kicked in completely, he began to stitch up the teen's side. Ezra watched the process curiously. It was nauseating, yet at the same time fastinating to watch.

Hera tilted his face up so he was looking up at her instead. "So kid" She said softly.

"How'd you end up with all these marks?" He averted his eyes.

"Umm... that's not important." He spoke quickly-too quickly, both adults noticed.

Kanan paused from his stitching to look up and arch an eyebrow. "You sure you don't have anything to share?"

"Of course not." The teen said defensively. Kanan rolled his eyes at that. He went back to his stitching, but continued to interrogate his charge.

"What did you do, run into something?"

"No! well, sorta..."

"Sorta?" Hera spoke up this time.

Ezra was silent for a moment, but seemed to realize that they wouldn't leave him alone until they managed to pry out the truth.

"During the mission, when I was crawling through the vents, I accidentally fell through a panel that hadn't been put in properly. I fell into some office and I hit the side of a desk. That's how I got cut. An imperial officer heard the noise and walked. That's how my rib was broken, him kicking me."

Hera smoothed strands of hair away from the boy's face. "How did you get away?"

Ezra smirked. "He didn't think I would grab his foot. When he fell he hit his head against the wall and was knocked out." He sobered.

"By that time other troopers had realized that something was wrong and came in. I barely managed to get away. They started chasing me. That was when I ran into Zeb. I didn't know he was in position. I didn't mean to screw the mission. I'm so sorry."

Hera stroked his forehead.

"You couldn't help it. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know about the panel."

"But..we needed those plans and…" She shushed him.

"It's okay. We're safe. That's what matters. You don't need to apologize."

Kanan looked up. "No, if anyone should apologize, it's me." He sighed.

"I let my temper get the best of me, which is what I've been trying to teach you not to do. I assumed that you did something stupid. I didn't bother to get your side of the story, or to make sure you were okay, and for that I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

Ezra looked surprised, searching his mentor's face as if to make sure he was telling the truth. Finally he nodded.

"Yeah. I forgive you."

Kanan smiled. He put in the last stitched and snipped the cord.

"There, now take it easy for a week or two. Last thing we want is to pull out those stitches."

Ezra nodded. He started to rise. Kanan gently pushed him back down.

"You're staying here tonight. You don't need to be climbing onto your bunk."

"But…"

"No buts." Hera backed Kanan up with a laugh. "Do what your master says."

Ezra huffed, but conceded defeat. "Fine."

Satisfied, Hera stood and headed for the door. "Night you two."

"Night Hera." Kanan grinned. Ezra repeated him, only to yawn right afterward.

Kanan touched the teen's arm. "Rest Kid."

It wasn't long before Ezra was asleep. Kanan sat on his meditation chair, watching the boy.

He still felt guilty for his treatment of Ezra. He shouldn't have jumped onto the teen like he had. The boy didn't deserve what he had given him. The only thing he accomplished was driving the teen away, when that was the last thing Ezra needed. If it wasn't for Hera, who knows how much the teen's injuries would have worsened before they had realize it.

Ezra shifted in his sleep, then settled down. Kanan's face softened. He reached out and stroked the hand of his charge. At least he had learned a lesson in all of this.

He learned to listen.