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To say it had been a long day was an understatement.
People had been lost. People had been wounded. Zeb had said a grateful prayer to the Ashla that his family was safe. And he found himself very relieved to discover that Kallus had miraculously made it out of the ISB alive, though a precursory glance of the man was enough to reveal that he’d been seriously injured and was practically dead on his feet. That, combined with the fact that he'd shed his imperial armor and tunic, made him almost unrecognizable.
“You made it,” Zeb said, giving Kallus a closer look.
Kallus looked up at him wearily. “I’m grateful to see you and your crew did as well,” he responded.
Zeb's gaze settled on the man's black eye. “Thrawn really let ya have it, eh?”
Kallus sighed. “Not as badly as I’d expected.”
Zeb’s ears pulled back a little. Sounded like Kallus had expected the same outcome for himself that Zeb had, yet he’d chosen to remain working as Fulcrum.
“Come with me. You need to get some rest,” Zeb said.
“I need to be ready to talk with General Dodonna,” Kallus responded. “He said we'd debrief soon. He might be looking for me.”
“Doubt that,” Zeb scoffed. “Everyone’s too exhausted to think right now, even the General.” As he spoke, he took the human by the wrist and pulled him down the corridor. “Besides, if anyone needs you, they’ll know where to look.”
“What do you mean?” Kallus asked.
“They all know you’re mine,” Zeb stated bluntly.
Kallus paused, and when Zeb looked back at him, he looked uneasy.
“My recruit, I mean,” Zeb clarified, feeling heat flush his face. “Anyway,” he said as the door to his room opened, “you can sleep in my bunk, alright?”
“I can’t take your bunk…”
“You’re not taking it, because I’m gonna be in it, too.”
“I see. Alright.”
Zeb was a little surprised that Kallus didn’t argue against the idea. That told him that the human really was exhausted. “You get comfortable, then,” Zeb said, trying to keep his tone neutral in spite of the strangeness of the situation they found themselves in. “I’ve gotta take my armor off first.”
Kallus nodded and climbed into the bunk, moving in against the wall. He tried to stay awake while waiting for Zeb to join him in the bed, but no matter how much he willed his eyes to stay open, it was a losing battle. After a minute, he’d fallen into wearied sleep.
Zeb finished getting ready for bed. He was absolutely bushed and would have appreciated some alone-time to decompress and sleep off the stress of the day, but that wasn’t to be. Ezra would surely come to bed soon, and there was a freshly-defected new rebel taking up his own bunk at the moment.
He was glad Kallus was safe and finally away from Thrawn, but it was surreal to have him here. He had been this larger-than-life figure—but on the Ghost, with all his injuries, he seemed so helpless. Just another human.
Zeb looked at the man, asleep on his bed. He looked like he might break if Zeb touched him. He seemed like some stranger, despite the time they’d spent together on Bahryn. It was odd. Zeb had hoped Kallus would defect. He had made the suggestion that led to the former ISB agent doing exactly what he wanted him to do.
Zeb had wondered what it would be like when they met again once Kallus was out. This wasn’t at all what he’d imagined. In fact, now it was happening, he couldn’t really remember all the scenarios his imagination had come up with. The truth was, there had been too many variables to really predict what would happen. After all, he really didn’t know this human at all regardless of what he’d learned about him on Bahryn.
He carefully got into bed, having no choice but to gather the human into his arms in order to make them both fit. Kallus didn’t wake up, just sagged into his hold. Zeb sighed, way too tired to even think about how awkward this was. Too tired to think about how he was cradling someone in his arms who he had truly despised until very recently—someone he’d been determined to take down. Someone who’d been hell-bent on destroying his family.
He tried to push all those thoughts away. After this, he never had to interact with Kallus again if he didn’t want to. There was no point in thinking about it all right now anyway; it was just too much, and the feelings were too complicated to figure out in a single night.
So, he closed his eyes and quickly settled into sleep.