- the calm before the storm.

out of darkness

Hera, Ezra, and Sabine slid down the ladder into the lounge of the Ghost and were greeted by the rest of the crew.

"Is everyone okay?" Kanan asked as Sabine flopped onto one of the seats in frustration.

"Yeah, everyone's fine, but I scraped the Phantom's underbelly." Hera replied, a hint of frustration in her tone. 

"You?" Lexie raised an eyebrow playfully, causing a grin to break across Hera's face. 

"It was somewhat unavoidable once Kanan's plan went south." Hera shot Kanan a look and Lexie shook her head, feigning disappointment as she looked at the other Jedi.

"Ah, there we go," Kanan sighed, "knew there had to be a way this was my fault."

"Everything manages to be your fault." Echo patted his shoulder as she walked past him to leave the lounge.

"And you were right." Hera looked over her shoulder at Echo and Ezra who had both gone to leave. "Echo, I'll need the Phantom ready to pick up the supplies from Fulcrum. Adjust the steering and run a diagnostic, Chopper and Ezra will help you fix any problems you find."

Echo turned around quickly. "Have you met them?! They do nothing but make problems worse!"

"Hey!" Ezra butted in loudly.

"You do!"

"Enough!" Hera said before Ezra could retort. "I'm leaving soon, so get to it."

Ezra and Echo glared at each other as they made their way towards the ladder that lead to the Phantom.

"Ladies first." Ezra hissed scathingly. 

"Oh, then you should go first," Echo stepped back and motioned for him to go first. "Didn't mean to be in your way."

"Thank you!" Lexie slid past them both, heading to the cockpit. "And stop flirting." She muttered to Echo as she passed. 

"Shut up, Lexie!" Echo yelled after her then turned back to Ezra. "Just go up."

The two worked in silence for a while, Ezra running the diagnostic while Echo adjusted the steering. 

"Hey, what do you have against me?" Ezra asked, finally breaking the silence.

Echo stayed quiet for a minute, tightening a bolt. "Nothing, really." She replied. "Just never had anyone my age around before." She stood up and rested her arms on the floor of the Phantom. "I guess I don't really mean to come to come off so rude it just happens, and you say crap back, so it just goes like that."

Ezra looked down at her. "I don't hate you." 

A small smile quirked the edges of Echo's lips. "Never said you did, but glad to know. I don't hate you either, Ez."

He glanced back at the diagnostic screen. "This is taking forever, did you finish?"

"Well, Hera was right, steerings way out of wack." She ducked back down into the repair duct. "I'm almost done, though."

He looked back to check the still running diagnostic. "There we go, the uh, life support filters need cleansing."

"Chop, once I'm out, purge them." Echo called and Chopper went to do it immediately. "Alright, I'm done." She tossed her wrench back up and was met with smoke coming from the support filters. 

Ezra couldn't help the small laugh that came out as Echo pushed herself up into the Phantom, coughing. "Well-well, steering and life support are back in working order."

"I told you to wait till I was out." She glared at Chopper who just chittered.

Ezra picked up her discarded wrench and tossed it at Chopper. It hit the droid with a dull clang and he picked it up, throwing it back at Ezra who narrowly avoided it.