A/N: Am I going to publish chapters 11-20 today? Yes. Any regrets? Maybe.

A day had passed, and Jax had been extremely busy with his new job. And he hadn't stopped thinking about Alema and Sabine once. They should have reported in by now and be on their way home.

But they weren't, and Jax was getting restless. He was trying to focus on his work, the work that felt like a mountain on his shoulder, but his mind kept going back to Alema and Sabine.

He walked out of his new office that Sato had lent him and went to the briefing desk, where Sato was standing.

"Captain," Sato greeted him.

"Any update on the mission?" Jax asked, placing his hands on the table.

Sato shook his head. "No. Not yet."

"It's taking too long," Jax growled.

"Be patient," Sato advised.

"If we aren't contacted by sunset tonight, I'm contacting Ezra," Jax said. "This mission is taking longer than it should, and I'm not liking it."

"Very well," Sato said. "Now, try and relax. I'm sure you have a lot of work to do."

"I do," Jax admitted. "But when you get their word, tell me."

"You have my word," Sato replied.

Jax nodded and left the table and headed back to his office to do his work.

And he hated every minute of it. Maybe being a Fulcrum wasn't that good of an idea.

And after what felt like forever, Jax heard a beep on his comm and almost hit his head on a wall.

"Jax, they're on their way back. They will be back by midnight," Sato said.

"Great!" Jax exclaimed. "Thanks, Commander."

And now he just had to wait.

Thankfully, he wasn't as worried as he had been earlier, so the time passed quite quickly now that he was able to focus on his work and do research to send out a transmission to another cell.

And then he heard his comm beep again and raced out of his office and to the landing platform and saw Alema and Sabine approaching with two male figures behind them. Hera, Zeb, and Sato were right behind Jax.

"Commander Sato," Sabien said. "Allow me to present Lieutenants Wedge Antilles and..." she waved a hand and paused. "Hobbie. Formerly of the Galactic Empire."

"Commander," The man on the left, who Sabine said to be Wedge, said. "We heard you were looking for some good pilots."

"Indeed we are," Sato replied. He saluted them. "Welcome to the Rebellion."

And the four of them saluted back.

Their hands fell to their side after a moment, and Jax walked up to Alema.

"How was it?" Jax asked.

Alema shrugged. "Not too difficult. I haven't really done a mission in so long, though, so it was nice."

"Well, with this success, I'm sure you'll be getting out more," Jax said.

"I hope so," Alema replied. "How was it here?"

"Um, we should talk," Jax said.

Alema crossed her arms. "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing!" Jax replied quickly.

Hera walked up to Jax and Alema. "Jax, could I have a word?"

Jax nodded. "I'll tell you later," Jax said to Alema. He turned to Hera. "I'm pretty sure I know what this is about."

"Did you accept, Jax?" Hera asked.

Jax nodded. "I did."

"Have you read the rules?" Hera asked. "Because you can't tell very many people."

"I'm only going to tell Alema," Jax replied. "I need her. And she'll know I'm keeping something from her."

"Alright," Hera agreed. "But no one else."

"Well, I'm sure your crew will eventually find out, or they'll figure it out, but I won't tell them," Jax replied.

"Good," Hera said. "Thank you."

"It's no problem," Jax said. "I think it's a cool job."

Hera laughed. "You should go tell her. I know what it's like to have someone egg you on."

"Anyone in particular?" Jax asked, raising an eyebrow. "A blind Jedi, perhaps?"

Hera rolled her eyes. "You know, I've dated people other than Kanan."

"Ah, so you're dating him," Jax said with a smirk.

"It's... complicated," Hera said, her eyes carrying a dangerous glint, but also with a bit of sadness that she was obviously trying to hide. "But if you want to think that, go ahead."

"It'll work out with you two," Jax said reassuringly. "You're good together."

"You know, you act a lot older than you are," Hera commented. "Sometimes I forget you're only sixteen."

Jax put a grin on his face. "Well, I guess that's what happens when your best friend slugs you when you act like you're three." He tried to make it a joke, but he also knew that he had matured so fast because he had to be.

And since his mom died, he wasn't the cheerful, funny kid that went into Malachor.

He was Jackson Tano. The son of a clone and a former Jedi who didn't have a mother, watched his friends die all the time and the kid who had aged too fast.

Jax watched as Hera walked away and Alema came up beside him.

"You okay?" Alema asked.

Jax cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"What was it you wanted to tell me?" Alema asked.

"Let's go to my place and I'll tell you," Jax said, wrapping an arm around Alema and walking towards the living area of the base.

He walked inside and he and Alema sat on his bed, Jax's arm still around her.

"So," Jax started. "Sato and I had a nice chat, and he asked me to do a job."

"Which is?" Alema questioned.

"I'm the new Fulcrum," Jax replied.

"What?" Alema choked out. "Jax, that's great!"

"Thanks, 'Lema," Jax said. "But you can't tell anyone. It's a top-secret thing."

"Alright," Alema said. "So not even Rex?"

Jax shrugged. "I'll probably tell him. So far only me, you, Sato, Hera, and a few others know."

"And who are the few others?" Alema questioned.

Jax scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Uh--Senator Organa and another Fulcrum. A friend of my mom's."

"Senator Organa?" Alema asked. "You talked to him?"

Jax nodded. "Yeah. So you're fine with this?"

Alema nodded. "I think it's great. I'm really proud of you."

"Aww," Jax said with a cheeky grin. "My wonderful bestie is proud of me."

Alema smiled. "I'm very proud of you. I always will be."