#kaw

"Karabast..." Murmured that same lasat, spitting some blood at the feet of the secret agent tasked with interrogating them. Kallus had to resist growling at the ruthless Imperial, though the dirty look he gave him was inevitable.

"So the empire keeps using these useless dirty tricks, huh?" He asked the agent viciously, trying to focus his anger on the man who was hurting his mate. They weren't supposed to know that they were related beyond being in the same crew, or they would try to use that against them.

Well, the hit he took at least wasn't for Zeb.

"You don't even deserve to be alive, you dirty traitorous rebel rat" The man told him, and if Garazeb was sensitive to the Force, he was sure that he would have already sent him to fly to the other side of the thick forest they were in.

All was not lost. From the corner of his eye he could see how his mate was insistently clawing at the bonds that held them immobile (the empire using ropes to bind its prisoners? It seemed like the alliance was really taking a toll on their economic system, after all).

They just needed to entertain the veteran agent a little more.

"I hope you don't have a family, agent… I couldn't look them in the face." He tempted the gray-haired man, effectively receiving a shot in the abdomen. No problem, he could hold on… Besides, it was a perfect way to get Zeb to try to cut those bonds faster.

When he looked to the side of him, he was too surprised to find that he had not had the desired effect. The lasat's hands were shaking, and his eyes… God, his eyes. He seemed ready to kill the Imperial.

In a completely unexpected move, and which, if he weren't so shocked by the situation, he would have thought it was totally disproportionate and idiotic on Garazeb's part, he released himself with sheer force with his arms, throwing himself at the agent like a mad dog.

The next thing he knew, said man was unrecognizable and motionless on the ground, a scattered bundle of flesh and blood.

He didn't even notice how long it was between Zeb unleashing himself and the agent's death, though after that the lasat simply walked up to him, untied him, and motioned for him to hug him. He nodded without thinking too much, trying to ignore the still hot blood on Zeb's body and claws as he climbed a tree.

Once they were placed between several stable branches, he released him.

“Zeb… what…? What was that…?" He asked quietly, he had never seen him this… wild. He would swear that even he had never seen him use his claws like this.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that" The lasat muttered sheepishly, looking away a bit, but soon he tensed again and bent down a little so that he could separate them just enough to see the wound on his abdomen. "Karabast… That damn imperial" He growled protectively, putting his claw over his wound so gently, no one would say that he had just killed a man with those same claws.

"It doesn't matter, just… it caught me out of the blue?" He said, smiling softly, putting his hand on the other's claw. "To be honest, it has been impressive" He admitted smiling at him, although shortly after he noticed the wounds on his wrist, caused by the way he had freed himself from his bonds. "You're a fool, you could have waited a little more… I can take a shot, you know that" he chided softly, snorting.

“I know… but I couldn't resist it, it was pure instinct. I needed to protect my mate" He couldn’t resist the smile that blossomed on his face for that words.

Shortly after that, they were found by the rest of the crew, and if both Hera and Sabine were able to see the remains of the Imperial agent, neither of them mentioned it.