public class Stopwatch

{

private long startTime;

private long stopTime;

"Knock Knock."

I was on a roll too. Damn.

Rolling away from my chair, I walk over to the front door, probe out far enough to feel one person standing at the door, then open it to Sabine, in her normal soccer related outfit before she smiles at me. "Hi. Can I come in?"

"Sure, yeah. Thought you were my RA or something, making me go to a social event." I wave her inside before shutting the door behind me.

Crap, the mess.

As quickly as I can, I leap around her and start picking up the general chaos that my apartment's living room is in. "Sorry…I had to babysit today."

Kanan and Hera reported to their superiors at the same time today, and they couldn't find anybody to watch them. So I did, happily.

Best reason to skip out on work ever. Renee loved it, basically kicked me out by force.

"Aww." Sabine smiles softly as I start folding the blanket Jacen used while watching cartoons before she spots Mira's bear on the floor. "AWWWWW!"

I glance over and see her pick it up, then give me a toothy smile. "Yeah. I bought that for her today. She liked it, but we forgot to let her take it home with her."

She'll be on campus tomorrow, as Hera has more meetings, so I'll bring her bear to her tomorrow. Probably will watch her a little bit then too.

"I think it's cute. She liked it?"

I nod. "Yeah. She's not at the age that she falls asleep holding anything. But Ghost usually kind of does that anyway."

"Ghost? I've heard you say that before." Sabine comments, then visibly starts racking her brains.

"Their dog. He came too, mostly because he keeps the kids calm. They love him."

Sabine tilts her head. "Here? Must be kind of a small dog."

"No, no." I can't help but laugh. "He's a husky. He's no joke. Bark is menacing but he's friendly once he realizes you're okay."

"A husky? With two little kids, in this heat? What kind of husky? They're so gorgeous…" Sabine gushes while pulling out her phone.

"Tamaskan." I tell her, then move to set the blanket in the closet in my room. "Looks just like the pictures, his eyes pierce your soul."

They really do. I'm really glad I met him as a puppy when he always assumed I was a friend. I've seen and dealt with attack dogs before, and I wouldn't love squaring off with Ghost if Jacen and/or Mira were in danger.

That would be miserable. 135 pounds of protective anger and bite strength.

"Oh my…do they have puppies?"

"No. They took care of that." I joke lightly.

Sabine seems to understand. "These dogs are big…is he like that?"

I nod. "Can put his paws over my shoulders if he wanted to, and 135 pounds."

"Jesus…" Sabine shakes her head. "Make sure he likes me if I ever meet him. And he's good around Mira?"

"Yeah." I nod, scooping up a cup full of Cheerios that Jacen had snacked on. "Couple of weeks ago, with that big storm that came thru here, I heard that he heard the lighting and thunder then raced up to her room to protect her. Problem was, Mira slept thru all of it."

Sabine lets out a big laugh, kicking up her feet as she sits in my recliner. "Aww. Dogs usually can't stand thunder. Ours don't at all."

"Ghost doesn't either."

"I like the name, since he's a husky. Ghost." Sabine smiles widely.

She said she had dogs. That's an easy transition.

"You said you had dogs?" I ask her.

"Yeah, two." Sabine smiles. "A black lab named Oakley and one that we don't know what she is named Sarabi." (A/N: These are my dogs names. The lab's staring at me as I write this, eating a sandwich, hoping for a bite. Dogs = the best)

"Oakley and Sarabi." I smile. "Nice names. Sarabi, Simba's mom from Lion King?"

Sabine nods. "Yup."

Nice.

I set the cup down in the living room and flick on the water. "Anyway, enough on my craziness. What's up?"

"Came over to say hi. Figure out what we wanted to do about this scavenger hunt." Sabine replies, floating back to me. "Have to do more laundry later, but, eh."

"Laundry?"

Sabine randomly and unexpectedly freezes up. "Oh. I, uhh, forgot to tell you. Another punishment for the party and my arrest. I kind of have to be team bitch now. Laundry, vacuuming the locker room, putting people's stuff away, all that."

"Do you have any help? There's like 30 players." I ask her, grabbing the scrubber brush.

"No." Sabine answers, sounding tired. "Well, usually somebody stays back to help our managers out. But Coach told them they don't have to stay with me."

"That sucks. And isn't fair." I roll my eyes, then get a better look at Sabine.

"Doesn't matter. I deserved it. I weakened the team's depth, even though Eliza was a pain." She looks at the floor. From what Coach told me, I'll sit the rest of the year, do all the dirty work for the rest of the semester, stay in shape then I'll be allowed to come back, practice with everyone in the spring and fight for my job back."

She'll get it.

Sabine silently laughs. "You know I'll get it back."

"That's what I was just thinking." I smile at Sabine, getting a dimple to appear on her face.

She really is cute.

We stare at each other, her softly smiling at me before I realize what I'm doing, and focus on the dishes. "I'm confident in you. Just sounds like a grind."

"And the smell. Guys smell, but girls…yuck." Sabine shudders. "I cannot wait for finals to be over."

But then she won't be with me anymore. No. I don't want that to happen.

"Yeah, that sounds like that would suck." I laugh in an effort to misdirect he—

The door suddenly opens before the Force twitches strongly, causing me to whip around, holding my brush as a weapon.

"Ezra! Get your dumbass—oh! Hi. Sorry." Cayle stops and smiles at Sabine and I, still frozen in place. "You must be Sabine."

Sabine stares at him for a moment before turning back to me, then turning back to him. "Hi. Are you another friend from high school?"

"Kind of, yeah. From back home. Cayle, nice to meet you." Cayle smiles, walking forward and extends his hand as Ahsoka appears behind him in the door, then moves to slide out of the way.

Why's she here? Why are they both here?

Sabine takes a step forward, then scowls at him. "Oh. I see it now. You're FBI. That's how you thought I was sleeping with Ezra, with your texts."

"What—" I sputter out as Cayle's face pales, then he looks to me.

"I don't care. Shut up." Sabine bites his head off.

"Well I know you're not with him now." Cayle coolly replies. "Pleasure to meet you Miss Wren."

Ouch.

Ahsoka steps forward and backs Cayle up. "Miss Wren. Nice to see you again."

"Agent Sinara." Sabine respectfully nods. "Am I being questioned again?"

"No, no." Ahsoka shakes her head. "Just wanted to speak with Ezra. I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave. We're sorry."

Sabine immediately nods quickly, then starts toward the door. "Yeah, no I get it. It's fine, I have stuff to do anyway. Bye Ezra, I'll text you." She says in a rush, then darts out the door, leaving just Ahsoka, Cayle and I.

I wait a moment for her to get out of earshot, then Ahsoka shuts the door. "Really?" I snap at Cayle the moment the door snaps shut. "That was the first nice conversation we've had and you just had to come and ruin it."

"How does she know you thought we thought she was sleeping with him?" Ahsoka asks Cayle.

"I have no idea. Did she get your phone or something?" Cayle turns to me.

"No, I've only given her my phone twi—"

Oh, no. On Fall Break at JJ's house. My phone fell and she glanced at my texts.

"No, Fall Break. Her friend was talking about Dad and Vader in a third party way, yelled, I jumped, causing my phone to fall down on the floor. She picked it up and glanced at the screen." I explain.

Cayle just looks at me for a moment. "Well damn. And I was hoping she'd maybe like me." He sighs then turns to Ahsoka. "You're right, she's got some fire."

"She's got that spice. I think that's what he likes about her." Ahsoka smirks.

I derail their trains of thought. "No, that's not it."

"Then why's she here?" Cayle asks me, turning the tables.

"She had a free moment. Our class together, the professor has decided he doesn't want to teach us and we now are basically doing a scavenger hunt the rest of the semester. We were just about to hash the details out but we got distracted."

Cayle nods, then slips behind me and picks up the cup Jacen was using. "How were the kids?"

"Sleepy." I smile. "They napped for most of the time they were here."

"Change any diapers?" Ahsoka smiles at me.

I laugh, getting Cayle to smile as well. "One. Threw it in the outside garbage so it won't stink up the place. Before I forget, why are you here? Why come in so hot?"

"Because you're stupid! Dumbass." Cayle's tone flips on a dime.

"What'd I do now? I've been good! Haven't skipped a class. I was sitting here doing my damn homework like a good boy before everyone decided to distract me!" I counter hotly. "You're going to blow my cover."

"No, that's why I was Agent Sinara. Homework on the laptop?" Ahsoka points at my desk, before I nod and she walks over and sits down. "Twos, she can access it."

"Okay Ezra." Twos replies, voice echoing thru my phone and laptop speakers.

"We bet on her recognizing Ahsoka from when she and Master Skywalker came to talk to her." Cayle gets back on track.

"Yeah, that's what got this whole thing started. Or have you not heard the audio." I fire back again at him.

"I have."

I stride right past him. "If the Council hadn't sent them, there might be a chance this all wouldn't have happened. You know she's suspended and is having to do all her team's dirty work? That's not what I wanted!"

"That idiot that shoved you was determined to start shit and you know it." Cayle frowns at me.

"The Council should have trusted me." I fire back.

"We were trying to protect her." Ahsoka chimes in.

I turn to her angrily. "Yeah, and what now? If I do decide I do want to do something about her, guess what? I can't! Because she thinks I have the FBI on my back!"

"So you do want to get with her." Cayle smirks at me knowingly.

"NO!" I roar. "That's not what I said! And besides, you know the rules I have to play by."

"Doesn't mean you can't hook up with her." Cayle points out.

"Sabine's better than a hookup." I shake my head. "She's a really cool, great girl. She made a mistake, we're working past it."

"We're." He points out my grammar.

"Take my grammar and shove it up your ass." I jab his chest, getting Ahsoka to laugh.

"Got you there Cayle."

Cayle frowns in his Master's direction. "Then why was she here? It seemed a little romantic how you were standing and the atmosphere."

"No it wasn't, it's not like that."

"Twos!" Cayle calls out. "Did Sabine touch anything? Did you get Oxytocin levels?"

Twos replies "Oxytocin levels were rising at the time you and Master Tano entered the apartment."

"Hah!" Cayle says triumphantly. "I know you want to give her that work."

"Shut up." I reply again. "I can't have a girl who is a friend?"

"Not one that you're making excuses to be friends with. And she knows your apartment, and just randomly came over to say hi before her Oxytocin levels were rising!"

"Oxytocin levels are an unproven science. And you're no chemistry genius." I fire back.

"I know enough to know about the love hormone. She likes you, and you like her. Admit it."

"We're friends. Why are you here, genius?" I hotly ask Cayle.

I wish Sabine was back.

"Actually, another girl." Master Tano comments, turning away from my laptop. "Quality work so far, it should get you full marks."

"Oh yeah! Right!" Cayle smiles.

I ignore Cayle and look to his Master. "Thanks. Who?"

"Aubrey."

Oh damn.

"You didn't report it to the Council, genius." Cayle throws my jab back at me.

He's right.

"I forgot and didn't think anything of it." I reply.

Cayle gestures widely. "It got thrown at Kanan and Hera blindly today!"

"We investigated your tracker request thru your AI. Followed the location, accessed the nearest video cameras and saw the situation." Ahsoka explains.

"Later on, we followed you all the way back to you leaving your class." Cayle follows up.

"So you see that I didn't anything of it really. It was lunch." I smile.

Cayle smirks right back. "Sabine didn't seem very happy."

"Cayle." Ahsoka scolds him.

I look from Master, to Apprentice. "The greeting was odd. I wasn't expecting her."

"We noticed that, but you still went with her? Why?" Master Tano asks, sounding genuine.

"To figure out why she came. She vanished after my father kicked her out. I think her parents are still looking for her."

It was one of the more inflammatory things he did. The whole compound wasn't happy that he kicked her out, but held her parents there forcibly.

"You're so demanding about getting the Council to trust you, then this happens Ezra." Cayle says, grabbing a glass. "And now you've given them evidence that you're colluding with known members of the Sith Order, at least formerly."

He said that weird.

"You say that like you know what she's been up to. She didn't really give me an answer."

"You tell us." Cayle replies to me.

I roll my eyes, pull open the fridge with the Force and levitate the iced water for him. "I know you accessed the cameras. You know every word I said."

"No, actually we don't. You commanded Twos to stop recording you, and Olive Garden's cameras are all video, no audio." Cayle points out.

Purely for criminal purposes only, nothing for the government.

"I didn't do it maliciously. I had nothing to hide." I explain. "I was genuinely curious."

"We know." Ahsoka eases my fears. "Your AI overstretched its bounds and 'A' will be taking a full diagnostic look at its freelancing tendencies."

"I assure you that is not necessary." Twos replies to Ahsoka.

Ahsoka sighs and pulls out her phone. "Compliance will be rewarded Twos."

"Initiating full system shutdown and upload to Jedi Temple Headquarters." Twos says flatly.

"Whoa. Did you just take away my AI?" I ask her.

Not cool! I haven't done anything wrong!

"Activated a built in safety feature. You'll get it back in a day or two. It's not a punishment Ezra, promise." Ahsoka smiles at me.

"She has been doing that, going a step past what I've been wanting." I nod.

"And we'll fix that." Ahsoka nods back at me.

Cayle shakes his head while pouring himself another glass of water. "Anyway, the NSA is persuading Olive Garden to up its security package."

"Great, I'll have to find a new spot that has a good Chicken Parm." I roll my eyes and turn away from him.

"You didn't have the Chicken Parm. You had the Tour of Italy." Cayle responds, causing me to whip around. "Looked a little overcooked."

I stare at him for a moment then bite my lip. "You sounded like you know what she's been doing. She told me she doesn't work much, just when she wants something."

"Implying that she's already hit her big job." Master Tano deciphers.

"yes." I nod. "But no more. What have you got, Nostradamus?"

Cayle smirks. "Black Sun. The Blackwater derivative."

"Private mercenaries. Authoritarians greatest armies." I groan. "I probably should have guessed that."

"Not if she gave you little to work off of." Cayle defends me, then sips his water.

I pinch my nose, then look to my counter. "She did get me thinking about something else. Might as well tell you so people can start digging into it."

Yeah.

The kitchen is silent for a moment before Cayle asks. "Okay? What is it?"

"She mentioned Asia. On it's own. Said it's a slow buildup over there. She was doing some cyber work over there but she noticed enough. It makes me think of Elias."

"Elias?" Ahsoka asks before I look up and nod.

"All of Asia. Russia, Indonesia, China. Everything stretching west to Iran and Iraq. 60% of the world's population is over there. You want to disappear?" I start.

"That's where you'd go…" Cayle finishes.

I nod. "I have no proof. The lightbulb just went off in my head. And I feel kind of stupid. I know the Council will want more, but that's all I've got. I was thinking of looking into it fully at Christmas, when I actually have time."

"Do you want to take point? Or let the global community get some basics? Facial recognition, etc." Ahsoka asks me.

She can't do that. I have no say.

"Doesn't matter. I have no say. He's the most wanted man in the world in the Council's eyes."

He is Lord Tyranus.

Ahsoka shakes her head. "No Ezra, I'm asking you. The Council will likely want your eye on it regardless but…you've done everything we've ever asked of you. I think you'd be given this."

"Well yeah." I laugh, then look to Cayle who is holding his glass. "Of course I want it. He's my problem."

"He's not your problem. But he is your brother." Cayle corrects me.

"I'll ask." Ahsoka smiles at me.

"Thank you, Master. And if you can get your unruly student with me on this, I'd appreciate it." I joke, getting them both to laugh before Cayle shoves me.

"Jerk."

"Do you have a lot more homework?" Ahsoka changes topics slightly.

"Yeah." I confirm. "Not for tomorrow, but I do have a lot."

Cayle's expression falls slightly, getting Asoka's attention. "Okay. We'll let you work."

"Thanks." I smile in thanks before Ahsoka starts to the door. Cayle takes one look at me, smiles then comes over and gives me a hug before joining his Master.