Chapter Text
“The one time I come with you and we almost die!” Greez shrieked as they booked it down the hall, red lights blaring and a hoard of Stormtroopers on their tail.
“This happens every time, Greez!” Cal teased, almost breathless behind him. As the only one with a lightsaber, he was relegated to pulling up the rear in order to deflect any shots coming their way while Cere led the charge, blaster in hand and aiming over Cal’s shoulder.
Greez was in the middle, with BD-1 clinging tight to his shoulder.
“I’m never leaving the ship again!” Greez wailed. Cal just laughed, the absolute brat. Greez shook his head, swearing at Cal in every language he knew as they turned the corner, Cere having the schematics practically memorized, meaning she knew exactly how to get off this Imperial ship.
As she was right now, Greez thinks Trilla should consider herself lucky that she’s not stationed here. Cere might actually kill her this time, if given the opportunity, simply based on how…well…
He’s never seen her at this level of manic before.
They whip into the next room and BD-1 leaps off of Greez’s shoulder, scurrying back to Cal to jam the door controls and shut them inside. With the Stormtroopers cut off, at least for now, the three of them stumble and breathe heavily.
“Come on, we don’t have much time,” Cere snapped, racing towards the escape pods lining the wall. Greez follows after her, more than eager to get off this karking ship. It’s only when he hears BD-1 make a curious sound that Greez pauses and turns, finding that Cal hasn’t moved an inch from the door.
Frowning, Greez called, “Callie, kid, come on we gotta go!”
But Cal remained frozen, frantically shaking his head, eyes locked on Cere as she–
No. No, he wasn’t looking at Cere, he was looking at the escape pod. Worry filled Greez and he headed back over, well aware of the sounds of the Stormtroopers still trying to get in.
“Kid, we’re running out of time,” he said quietly. “Come on, we have to–”
“I can’t.” Greez had never heard Cal’s voice like that. Broken, cracked, terrified . Close as he is, he can see that the kid has gone pale. He’s shaking. “Greez, I can’t, please.”
“Cal! Greez! Let’s go!” Cere shouted from inside the pod. Greez feels a prick of worry, for a second, that they might get left behind here but he shakes it off. She can’t fly the Mantis without him and she can’t find the Holocron without Cal, so she’s going to have to wait until Cal gets moving.
Which, based on the way that he doesn’t seem to be breathing right, probably isn't going to be any time soon.
Greez takes a deep breath. “I know you’re scared,” he tells the kid quietly. “And I won’t pretend to know why. But Callie, there’s no other way off.” Cal let out a strangled sound, almost like a whimper, and Greez’s heart broke. He chewed his lip, thinking quickly, until an idea came to mind.
Cal had been fine until he saw the escape pods, right? So what if he just…didn’t see them anymore?
“Okay Callie, I need you to listen to me very closely,” Greez ordered, wishing he was tall enough to block Cal’s line of sight himself. Reaching out, he carefully took the kid’s saber and turned it off, fumbling to secure it on CAl’s belt before taking both of the kid’s hands in two of his own. “There is no other way out. We have no other options. I know you’re scared, but you’re not alone this time.”
“I can’t–”
“I know. That’s why you’re going to close your eyes for me, okay?” When Cal didn’t move, Greez squeezed his hands. “BD-1 and I are gonna lead you over and get you strapped in, but you’re going to keep your eyes closed the entire time, okay?”
Realistically, the kid was probably going to pass out as soon as the escape pod took off but right now, Greez’s first concern was getting him into the pod in the first place. Everything else could wait.
“Close your eyes, kid.”
Cal did, albeit with a few more prompts from Greez and BD-1. The second he could no longer see, he squeezed Greez’s hands hard. Which was fine. Greez was using the hands he didn’t need to fly with, in case Cal broke any of his fingers.
“Alright kid, good,” Greez instructed gently. “One step at a time, you’ll be okay. Eyes closed the whole time, alright? Don’t listen to anything but me.” BD-1 chirped and even though Greez didn’t understand him, he could read the situation well enough to guess. “Yeah and the droid too.”
Cal didn’t reply, too busy focusing on breathing and shuffling forward. Greez kept up his words of encouragement, thankful that Cere must’ve picked up something of what was happening, since she didn’t make a sound as they made their way towards her.
“Alright kid, careful step and then you’re gonna sit down when I tell you too, okay?”
“Greez, I can’t do this.” Cal was paler than before, his breathing coming too sharp. He must’ve heard the change in Greez’s voice, the way it echoed in the small space.
“You can, Callie, we’re right here with you. I promise.” With Cere’s help, Greez was able to guide Cal to one of the seats, getting him down and strapping him in.
“Greez,” Cal wheezed, letting go of Greez’s hands and clinging to the straps so tightly his knuckles turned white. “I’m gonna pass out.”
For once, Greez thought that might be for the best. Hopping into the seat next to the young Jedi while Cere hurriedly prepared the escape pod for takeoff, Greez said,
“Just try to breathe, Callie.”
Cal lost conscioussness almost as soon as the pod disengaged. Privately, Greez was thankful and a quick look to Cere who was frantically trying to strap herself in on the other side showed that she was thankful too.
…………………..
Greez was less thankful when Cal was still unconscious when they landed, leaving himself and Cere to haul him out and across the sand. But if it meant not having to ever see the kid on the verge of a panic attack again, he’d take it.
“You’re soft on him, Greez,” Cere commented when they finally made it to the Mantis and got called tucked in on the couch.
“So?” Greez asked.
“It’s good.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “For both of you, I think. You like hovering and Cal needs someone who isn’t a Jedi to talk to.”
Greez just huffed, shaking his head and changing the subject. “You think that was a Bracca thing? His reaction? Or something else?”
Cere was silent for a moment, maybe debating pulling the conversation back or maybe not. Eventually, she sighed and replied,
“I don’t think that was Bracca. Not really.”
“You have a suspicion though.”
“I shouldn’t talk about this without Cal.”
“I’m just trying to get a feel, that’s all. That reaction wasn’t…”
They fell into silence for a long time until Cere quietly said, “He would have had to take an escape pod to Bracca.” When Greez just sent her a confused look, she clarified. “When the clones attacked, during the Purge. His master would have had them in an escape pod, fleeing the ship.”
Greez’s stomach dropped. Not a Bracca thing then. “I thought his master didn’t make it to Bracca.”
“He didn’t make it alive ,” Cere murmured. “Doesn’t mean his body didn’t make it.”
Kriff. Greez had never considered that. How had he never considered that!? And oh, now that he was that was even worse. It was one thing to imagine Cal’s master sacrificing himself and staying on the ship, for Cal, and it was another thing entirely to picture the small redhead boy cowering in the corner of an escape pod with a kriffing corpse laying on the floor in front of him.
Cere said, “You should sit down, Greez. You look peaky.”
He’s sure she didn’t mean sit on the floor but he has no intention of leaving Cal’s side for anything, let alone grabbing a chair. He heard the older Jedi sigh but thankfully Cere didn’t press, just heading into the galley to grab two glasses of water–one for Greez and one for Cal, whenever he woke up.
On her way out, she paused and said, “You’re good for him, Greez.”
“All I do is listen.”
“No, you do more than that.” He didn’t like the way he could feel Cere watching him, so he made sure to keep his head down. “You take care of him. Make sure he’s alright, make sure he’s sleeping or resting when he’s sick.” She paused a moment and when she next spoke, Greez could hear the guilt in it. “You recognized that he was panicking because of the escape pods and you helped him through it.”
“You would have done the same.”
“No. I wouldn’t have. I would have told him to get it together and get moving. Maybe not in so many words, but the point would have gotten across. And the worst part is, he would have listened to me. And it would have made everything worse.” She gave a strained smile. “I’m glad you came with us, Greez. And I’m glad you’re here for him.”
“Yeah,” Greez murmured. “Me too.”