The Eighth Brother would have been outraged at the mention of his old name if anyone else had said it, but seeing as only so many people knew him by his original identity, he figured out who Jarrus was too. "Caleb."
"You're alive," he went on, too stunned to move or react further. "I didn't think you had made it. I thought you had died in the temple."
"I could have said the same," the Brother responded. "No one told me you had changed your name."
Anakin didn't move or speak, but his head had started pounding the instant Kanan recognized this Inquisitor. He, too, had known the ex-Padawan, but if he was here as an Imperial agent, this conversation wasn't going to end well. He couldn't trust the Brother no matter who he had been in the past. Unlike Kanan, he knew better than to call him anything but his Inquisitorial title.
He was encouraged when the Brother deactivated his face mask, though. A little bit of vulnerability was a good sign. Still, seeing the toll the Dark Side had taken on the man was horrific. His sick yellow eyes were bloodshot and afraid, as one might be when at the mercy of two Jedi.
Kanan looked to Master Skywalker, wondering what he was supposed to do. Taking the initiative, Anakin lifted the Brother's lightsaber to his hand and hooked it onto his belt. They couldn't take a chance like that. With a pair of handcuffs the Brother had brought, Anakin inhibited his arms and stood back, deactivating his lightsaber but not putting it away. If Kanan was going to get through to him at all, he needed to be the good cop, and Anakin needed to be the bad cop.
Kanan kneeled beside him and put his weapon on his belt. Inhaling, he asked, "How did you get...here?"
The Brother seemed amused as he remembered the story. "Well, wouldn't you know it, I was talking with Windu when Order 66 was activated. We didn't know about the order, of course, but Windu saw clone troopers marching out the window of the room. He took a closer look, and he saw Lady Jadis sitting on a skyscraper in the middle of the city and thought she had something to do with it."
At the mention of Master Windu, Kanan's mind flashed back to the sarcophagus that held his remains, the one that had drawn him into his first fight with the Grand Inquisitor. He had a sinking feeling this story might tie in to Master Windu's resting place.
"He told me to get the Younglings down to the basement and hide, but I refused to listen. I told him that if he was going to fight her that he shouldn't do it alone, and I wasn't about to hide because I was afraid."
"Because of Master Gallia?" Kanan asked, making eye contact with him. "Because you couldn't take it if you lost another master?"
The accusation seemed to anger the Brother, but he didn't deny it. In fact, he acknowledged it. "He seemed to understand. He knew I was suffering after she died and he was one of two Jedi who didn't tell me to ignore it."
Thinking back to the last months before the Jedi Purge, Kanan remembered how Jinx had spent more time with Master Windu than any other Jedi. Maybe if they had more time, they would have become master and apprentice. He would have said it out loud if another thought hadn't occurred to him. "Who was the second?"
The Brother didn't respond verbally but looked over to where Master Skywalker was standing. Kanan turned and looked at him too, finding that he wasn't even remotely surprised. After a moment, the Brother told him, "You were always different than the other Jedi in the temple. I'm glad you are one of the survivors."
Anakin nodded, acknowledging the statement. Maybe they were fighting against each other now, but there was still an element of respect between them. Now that more of the story was coming to light, he understood why Jinx had fallen. He had been unstable after Adi Gallia, his master, had died in an ambush set up by the Separatists. The Jedi Purge and whatever had happened during it must have given him a push toward the Dark Side, and the rest was history.
"Eventually, he let me come with him. We left the temple, hoping that the other Jedi could defend themselves. It took a minute of chasing, but we caught up to Lady Jadis and started dueling. She was stronger than the last time Windu had seen her, though, much stronger. Windu could feel the Jedi dying, and it weakened him, making him vulnerable. Lady Jadis used it against him and knocked him down. I couldn't beat her on my own, and she threw me off the side of the building. When I got back to the roof, I was just in time to see her kill Windu."
Lowering his eyes, Kanan nodded. "I know the feeling. I'm sorry."
Not wanting to linger on the memory, the Brother returned the inquisition. "What about you?"
Normally he would have reserves about talking about it, but he didn't this time for some reason. "Master Depa and I were with a ground squad on a mission. I didn't even realize there was an order at the time. I just thought the clones decided to betray us willingly. I turned around, and Depa was shielding me behind her, trying to protect me. The entire squad had their weapons pointed at us, and she told me to run. She managed to deflect the fire for a while, just..."
"Not long enough," the Brother guessed, and Kanan nodded.
"I escaped, went back to the temple only to find the same thing had happened there. Escaped again, and I've been on the run ever since."
"Doesn't seem like you're on the run now," noted the Brother, gesturing to the Jedi Knight. "You're here, aren't you?"
Kanan narrowed his eyes at the Twi'lek, trying to see if he was joking or not. "I'm wanted in every Imperial system for treason. You're supposed to have killed me already."
In response, the Brother held up his cuffed hands. After tilting his head towards Anakin, he explained, "You didn't exactly give me a chance to."
"You don't need a lightsaber to hurt us," reminded Kanan. "Or did you forget that too?"
"I'm sorry? What else did I forget?"
"Don't you remember what she told us?"
"Who's 'she'?"
"Ahsoka," he said, standing up and leaving the Brother on his knees. "She told us if we ever saw Barriss Offee, run the other way, but clearly, you didn't think about that when Windu died."
The Brother scoffed, shaking his head. "She's not Barriss Offee anymore. You've seen her, haven't you? A lot has changed since the Clone Wars."
It was Kanan's turn to laugh. "At least that much is true. The Jinx I knew would never have teamed up with Master Windu's killer or the person who betrayed Ahsoka. You remember how scared she was of her."
"That's where you still have a lot to learn, Caleb," Jinx stated firmly. "Master Skywalker remembers how afraid I used to be. After Gallia's death, I was so afraid to make the wrong choice. It affected my dueling so badly he had to teach me how to relearn one of my sequences. That's all over, though."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't have to be afraid anymore. Lord Tyrannus and Lady Jadis rule an empire now. I don't have to worry about losing them too. Everyone else I ever cared about is already dead, so who else do I have left to lose? I never have to worry about being wrong again."
Kanan shook his head. "That's funny. That's really funny, Jinx, because you're wrong right now."
"Oh, please."
"You really think you have nothing left to lose?" He asked, gesturing incredulously. "You really think you've lost everything? If O-Mer saw you right now-"
"O-Mer is dead," the Brother said flatly, glaring at Kanan. He did not appreciate the mention of their old friend. "He was in the temple when the clones killed the Jedi. I know because Plo Koon left him behind for the airstrike on Cato Neimoidia."
He opened his mouth, fully intending to tell Jinx the truth, but he stopped at the last second. O-Mer didn't want to get wrapped back up in this, he said as much to Kanan himself. He needed to pretend he was talking about something else.
Looking at Master Skywalker, he looked for a way to pass off the mistake. Thankfully, Anakin was on top of it. "People change when they join the Dark Side," he said, walking next to Kanan and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Maybe you mattered to Jinx, but that isn't Jinx anymore. I'm sorry, Kanan."
It was a brilliant cover, but the words had a ring of truth to them as well. Kanan looked back at the Inquisitor on his knees and realized that he wasn't getting his friend back. He wasn't dead, but he wasn't really alive either. This Inquisitor was all that was left of Jinx Daru.
While the words worked through Kanan's head, Anakin sensed that the bitter reunion was over. "Which Inquisitor are you? I seem to remember there being a number system for your brothers and sisters."
"The Eighth Brother," he answered, pressing a button on his helmet and reactivating the face shield. "I just remembered, this whole Inquisitor regime must be pretty weird for you. You fought the First Sister, didn't you?"
"Once upon a time, yes," Anakin answered evenly. "How many more of you are here?"
The Brother glanced at the two of them before responding. "More than the two of you can handle."
Anakin wondered if the Brother knew he had beaten both the Seventh Sister and the Fifth Brother at the same time and decided it was better if he didn't. Between him, Kanan, and Ezra (assuming he hadn't gotten himself killed yet), they should be able to hold off three Inquisitors. As long as there weren't any more on the way, they had a good shot at succeeding in a duel.
"Why are you on Malachor?" Kanan asked, keeping his voice steady. He had to ignore his past with Jinx if he was going to get through this.
The Brother gave a one-word answer: "Hunting."
So their earlier hypothesis was correct. "Not us, though," Anakin guessed. "There's someone else here. Who?"
He shrugged, and the Jedi imagined he was grinning underneath the helmet. "A shadow."
Well, that cleared things up.
The ground beneath them shook. All three heads turned toward the Sith temple and saw it light up red. It was opening. Definitely not a good sign. While the Jedi had their backs turned, the Eighth Brother clicked a button on his communicator.
They had spared all the time they could to talk. "We need to find Ezra," Anakin suggested, and Kanan turned to Chopper, who had come out of the TIE fighter and joined them.
"Get back to the Phantom and get ready to leave," he ordered. Chopper saluted, happy to be done with this mess. He wanted to go home. He fired up his rocket and sailed away, letting the Jedi do their thing.
"Come on," Anakin said, pulling the Brother to his feet. "We're going for a walk."
The Jedi took off, making sure to keep the Brother between the two of them. "This feels more like a run," he argued to Kanan, but he just kept urging him forward. He didn't want to talk right now. Not when it was hard enough to accept that the man he was shoving along used to be his friend.
His mind was still reeling, not necessarily about Jinx but O-Mer. They had hoped that Jinx had survived the Jedi Purge, but neither of them imagined he had done so like this. Kanan wondered if it was better to tell him the truth or to spare O-Mer the inner turmoil that had crept into his head. If it was this disheartening for Kanan, how would O-Mer react? Could he take it?
Eventually, they approached the base of the temple, but they had no way to get in. Looking up at the expanding peak, Kanan shook his head. "Why do I know Ezra's involved in this somehow?" They shouldn't have left him behind.
"That'll be your apprentice, right?" the Brother asked, back with Anakin. "Ezra Bridger?"
"I don't need your commentary right now," Kanan shot back, not even turning to face him. It was bad enough that he had just lost a friend again, but he was not going to lose his apprentice. Not now, not today. They kept moving, approaching a door that looked very daunting. It certainly didn't look like a door the Jedi wanted to open.
Kanan sighed. "He's inside, I know it, but there's no way he lifted that door."
"Not alone," Anakin agreed, eyeing the entrance himself. This shadow, whoever the Eighth Brother was hunting, was likely the person who had run into Ezra.
From between them, the Brother started chuckling to himself. "What's so funny?" Kanan growled, but it didn't stop him. Kanan's comlink started beeping. It was Chopper again. "What is it, Chop?"
The news wasn't good. "What do you mean, we've got company?"
While the Inquisitor kept laughing, Anakin and Kanan felt a warm wind blow past them. Ahsoka, Anakin realized, and he turned in the direction the gust had blown. Good thing, too. More Inquisitors were incoming, more specifically, the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister.
Thanks to Ahsoka's warning, they had enough time to pull out their lightsabers well before the Inquisitors arrived. Anakin and Kanan ran forward to attack the Fifth Brother, but the Seventh Sister jumped over their heads and cut the Eighth Brother's handcuffs. With the Force, he pulled his lightsaber off the Jedi's belt and caught it.
The Seventh Sister looked to her Brother. "An excellent day's hunt," she complimented him before turning back to the Jedi. The Fifth Brother pushed them back, and now Anakin and Kanan were surrounded by three Inquisitors.
This ought to be fun, Anakin groaned, glancing at Kanan before scanning around him. For the next few minutes, they worked to keep the Inquisitors from killing them. Anakin took two of them while Kanan focused on the Fifth Brother. The fight only paused when they saw Ezra run out of the temple doors with his lightsaber drawn.
Kanan noticed him first. "Ezra?"
"Kanan, Master Skywalker, I've brought help!" he told them, gesturing back toward the door where a black-and-red figure was standing.
When Anakin turned to look, what he saw didn't fit his personal description of 'help.' "Maul," he realized, naming him.
The Inquisitors recognized him too. "The shadow," the Eighth Brother snarled. They were hunting Maul, Anakin thought, putting two and two together. Not good.
Maul, on the other hand, seemed delighted. "What fun," he laughed, putting everyone else on edge. "What fun!!!"
Author's Note: If anyone is interested, I have updated the 'Open Survey' chapter to include more information about what Jinx's spin-off would be about. I would love to write out this story, and I've already flushed out a few parts of it. I think it would be a lot of fun to write