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It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.
He had only planned to observe the boy for now. Since the last time he’d made contact, Ezra’s so-called “family” practically had him under house arrest. Whenever he was allowed out, he was never alone. They knew he was still watching, even if they never saw him. Maul could tell.
So he planned to keep watching, to learn how their routines had changed since they went into their little lockdown. To figure out the perfect moment to strike and reclaim his lost kin.
And then it had happened. Ezra had stepped outside and sat down on the front step, looking back and fidgeting impatiently, as if waiting for someone. For the first time in months, they’d let their guard down.
By the time Jarrus came out of the house, Ezra was long gone.
Ezra craned his neck, staring into the darkness that surrounded him, searching for the telltale glow of the latch release. Kanan, Hera, and Zeb had sat him down months ago and talked him through what to do. The first step, they’d said, was don’t panic.
He’d already failed that step. So he skipped ahead. Look for the release. Most cars built this century had one.
But not this one. Either Maul had removed it somehow, or this car was old enough not to have an emergency release at all. Even if it did, Ezra didn’t know how he’d reach it, tied up like he was. Every attempt to move his hands or feet even a fraction of an inch sent pain radiating down his limbs from his shoulders and hips.
Maul had attacked so fast Ezra barely realized what was happening. One second he’d been sitting on the step, blissfully relieved that he’d managed to talk Kanan into letting him wait outside by himself for a few minutes. The next, he was gagged, pinned down in the trunk of a car as Maul wound jumper cables around his arms and legs, hogtieing him with practiced ease.
He didn’t even fight back. It had all been over so quickly. And now it was too late. After a year of stalking him and tormenting his entire family, Maul had him now. If the creep decided to kill him, no one would be able to do anything about it until it was too late.
Ezra rolled his eyes upward, a trick he’d learned a long time ago to stop himself from crying. He didn’t want to cry now, not when he could barely breathe through whatever Maul had shoved in his mouth to keep him quiet. Instead, he tried to picture his family’s faces. If he was about to die, he wanted them to be the last thing he thought about. Not Maul and all the ways the man could make his death slow and painful. Not how fucking scared he was. Not the fact that he was only here because of his own stupid mistake.
There was no telling how much time passed before the car came to a definitive, final stop. Ezra’s heartrate spiked, pounding at the base of his throat as he heard the crunch of footsteps on gravel outside, growing closer and closer.
He braced himself for the light to come flooding in as the trunk creaked open, but when it did, he saw it was dusk. He’d been in the trunk for hours.
Maul stood over him, a menacing silhouette in the shadows, despite the fact that by all outward appearances, he was completely ordinary. The first few times Ezra had passed him on the street and seen him drive by the house, he hadn’t thought twice about it. Even when he’d seen the man outside his school, he’d just assumed Maul was some other kid’s parent.
He should’ve known better. Should’ve said something sooner. If they’d run Maul off early, maybe he would’ve just moved on.
But he’d ignored the signs. And now it was too late.
Ezra squirmed, trying to inch farther back into the trunk, for all the good it would do him. Maul rolled his eyes and picked the terrified boy up. He screamed and tried to kick, but the cables binding his limbs stopped him short. Craning his neck, he searched for any sign of life. If there was anyone whose attention he could draw –
But they were in the middle of nowhere.
A deserted gravel road stretched out behind them. Empty fields ran in every direction around the old wooden house that Maul was swiftly carrying him towards. Eerie quiet surrounded them, only the wind rushing through the grass and the distant calls of birds disturbing it.
Now, he couldn’t help crying. He was going to die here. Why else would Maul bring him out here, to some run-down farmhouse in the middle of nowhere? To a place where no one would hear him scream. Where there was plenty of land to bury his body when it was all over.
Please. He tried to say it, but all that came out through the wad of papery cloth in his mouth was a terrified whine. Please. Please.
“Shh,” Maul said softly, like he was actually trying to comfort Ezra.
The closer they got to the door, the harder Ezra tried to fight. Tried, and failed. His bonds were too tight, and Maul’s grip on him was like steel, keeping him pinned against his kidnapper’s chest.
He wasn’t going to escape.
Maul carried him into the house.
The door slammed shut behind them.
And Ezra howled, sheer terror exploding out of him in a muffled scream.
No no no please NO!
Frantic, terrified pleas and denials crowded out everything else in Ezra’s head. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t feel. Couldn’t think. Like he was dead already. Dead already and the last thing he would see was Maul and he would never see Kanan or Hera again never get playfully punched by Sabine again never antagonize Zeb again never –
He dropped to the floor with a heavy thunk. Maul stood over him, watching him with an expression Ezra couldn’t read, but that terrified him nonetheless.
Ezra’s breath came in ragged gasps as he waited. This had to be it. Maul was about to kill him. Or torture him. Or –
Maul crouched down next to him and Ezra flinched. He cried out as the jumper cables wrenched at his shoulders, a sharp ache spreading out from them and down his back.
“If you can be quiet, I will take the gag out,” Maul said, his voice stern but calm, like a parent drawing the line with an unruly child.
Ezra nodded. He forced himself to keep still, not to instinctively recoil as Maul reached for him. Once the wad of blue cloth was pulled from his mouth he gasped for air; quiet, shuddering breaths that barely seemed to bring in any oxygen.
He swallowed, but it didn’t relieve the bone-dry feeling in his mouth. There was only one thing left that he could do.
“Help!”
He screamed the word as loud as he could, his vocal cords straining like they were being ripped out of his neck.
“Someone hel—”
Maul’s hand slammed down over his mouth, knocking his head roughly against the floor. Fury sparked in his eyes as he squeezed Ezra’s face, his nails digging in hard enough to draw blood. Terror froze Ezra’s very thoughts in place as he felt his captor’s rage pressing down on him like a physical force.
“What did I say?” Maul snapped.
Ezra wrenched his head to the side, trying to throw Maul’s hand off of him. But the man held firm, his eyes narrowing as he watched Ezra’s pitiful struggles.
“Try that again, and the gag goes back in,” he hissed. “Understand?”
Ezra tried to nod. Maul’s hand was pressing down on his mouth too hard for him to move. He squeezed even tighter for a split second before he released the boy, who gasped and fought fruitlessly to hold back his heavy sobs.
“Please,” he gasped. He kept his voice quiet, trying to show Maul he had no intention of screaming for help again. “Please, don’t.”
Maul’s hand cupped his cheek and Ezra cried out, a strangled sound of terror that sounded more like a wounded animal than a human.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Ezra,” Maul said. His voice was gentle. Kind, even. There was a softness in the way he now looked at Ezra. Something that, under any other circumstances, might make Ezra believe him. And maybe Maul even believed it. Maybe he thought he had to do this, even if he didn’t want to.
“Please,” Ezra said again, his voice breaking into a terrified squeak. “Please. I don’t wanna die. I – I won’t tell –”
Maul shushed him again, his thumb gently running along Ezra’s cheekbone. Ezra whimpered, terror coiling in the pit of his stomach. This was so much worse than if Maul had just slit his throat or bashed his head in.
“I’m not going to kill you.”
All of Ezra’s panicked thoughts screeched to a halt as he stared wide-eyed at his kidnapper. If Maul wasn’t planning to kill him, then what the fuck was going on?
“Then wh-why am I here?” Ezra asked. His voice shook as all the horrible potential answers to his question ran through his head.
Maul sighed and pulled his hand away. He almost seemed disappointed as he slowly got back to his feet. That same disappointment made its way into his voice as he spoke.
“You’ll understand one day.”
With that, he walked away, leaving Ezra bound on the floor. He shut the door to the small room, plunging the boy into total darkness. The harsh scrape of a deadbolt sounded. Then a second. And a third.
Ezra strained against the cables that bound him, twisting his wrists and ankles until the blinding pain forced him to stop.
Restrained. Locked up. In the middle of nowhere. With a man who he’d bet was willing to kill even if he claimed he didn’t want to standing between him and escape.
There was no getting out of this.
Ezra was trapped.