Five shirts, three pairs of jeans. I can't pack those quite yet. I'll have to buy a pair here, a pair there to disguise it.

"Twos, run me thru it again." I say quietly.

From the living room, I hear Cayle yell "Don't do it Twos! He knows it already! Oh dammit, you get back here…" before the sound of shots being fired on TV reaches me.

I shake my head and focus on the duffel bag in front of me as I walk over to my closet, lift my laundry basket and grab a bundle of $100 bills.

10, 20, 30…the rest are in accounts that I can access securely…

"Any particular place you'd like to begin?" Twos asks me thru my phone.

"Nah." I shake my head. "You always want to be creative. Do it. Let's see what you come up with."

"Alright Ezra. Here you go." Twos says, sounding cheerful.

(The Next Morning)

"There should be something in there for you…" Cayle informs me as we walk into the nearest lounge to the side entrance. "If not, you know where the kitchens are. Maybe I can get a breakfast sandwich or something…"

"I'd rather not go into the caf with everyone, if that's cool." I tell Cayle while pulling open the fridge.

Something loudly collides with the counter near Cayle before he answers "I understand."

"Understand…what exactly?" Master Tano asks, sounding pleased with herself.

"Ezra doesn't want to be here all day. Just check up on the investigation, do some other digging…then go back to his apartment. He apparently has more homework." Cayle explains to Ahsoka.

Master Anakin Skywalker walks in as I pull out some orange juice form the fridge. "There's always something to fill the time. Morning. New caf?"

"Just making some new." Cayle explains to him as I nod.

I hear more footsteps.

"Great, Enough for four?" He asks Cayle.

Cayle quickly does a head count. "Four? Who is the fourth?"

Oh.

"Oh! Sorry Senator." Cayle quickly says as Senator Amidala walks in, wearing a more civilian outfit than her normal elaborate outfits for public appearances like yesterday.

"No problem Cayle. Just Anakin jumping the guns, per usual." She smiles, then spots me and her smile somehow widens. "There you are."

I can barely get out "Hi." before she's hugging me tightly. "You surprised me yesterday."

"The state's way out of line. You colored perfectly in the lines. They're on a witch hunt." She quickly reassures me before letting go and gripping my shoulders.

"I told him that. He's reviewed the audio and his statements at least three times since we got home yesterday," Cayle butts in.

I lean around Padmé and answer "Retracing my footsteps."

"Any complications for how they treated you?"

"Nah." I shake my head. "The normal."

Excess time in the bathroom after my digestive system basically gets completely restarted thanks to the inhibitors. You see, because it shuts my body down, preventing all chemical reactions.

"I'll look into if we have any legal avenue to hit back at them." Master Skywalker says, a look of intent following his words.

"You mean I will." Padmé corrects him while pulling out the cream from the fridge.

"Well, yeah. We will." Her husband concedes.

Ahsoka looks mildly amused before turning back to Cayle. "What's the other digging?"

"Plugging in Twos and letting her analyze some of the chatter online following this whole press fiasco."

"Can't you do that from your apartment?" Master Skywalker asks as the coffee pot beeps, signaling its completion.

Cayle shakes his head. "He says that the upload speed is too slow."

"And here it's practically like standing in Oslo." I explain, pouring myself some juice as Padmé starts doling out caf for everyone generously.

"What are you looking for?"

"Don't know." I shrug. "I've thought about it a little here and there, but haven't really brainstormed."

Master Skywalker shifts slightly. "So you're poking around a haystack hoping to see a glimpse of something shiny."

"Well when you say it that way, I feel a lot less confident." *I frown after mulling it over for a minute.

"C'mon…" Ahsoka beckons us all towards the intel rooms. "Poking around never hurt anyone."

"Spoken truly like your Master Ahsoka." I hear Master Kenobi comment.

Both she and Anakin quickly pop out to the sight of Master Kenobi. "Master."

"Anakin." He smiles wryly. "Off to do some poking around?"

"Of a sort." He laughs as Padmé sidles up next to him.

Master Kenobi laughs to himself. "Well I'll let you get to it. I, for one have a lesson to teach."

"He's been very bullheaded recently." Senator Amidala warns him. "Just so you know."

Again, Kenobi laughs. "Oh I can handle bullheaded. I handled Anakin. I can handle Luke. After all, he takes more after you, Senator. It's his sister I truly have to worry about. But then again, I don't have to worry about her."

Master Qui-Gon does.

"If you say so Master." Anakin laughs.

"Have fun digging." He waves then starts to walk away. "Bring a hardhat!" He then adds, getting us all to laugh.

Masters Skywalker and Tano look to each other before they both shake their heads, smile and lead everyone to our destination.

"How is Leia?" I turn and ask Padmé.

"Well." She lights up, turning to me as Cayle starts connecting Twos into the network. "Her campaign contributions in New York are rising at a good pace. And I think she enjoys what she does, although I think she's more interested in the international affairs side of politics."

"We can remedy that, right?"

She should be able to do what she wants. Follow her passions.

Padmé nods. "Oh yes, absolutely. But right now I think she just like the vineyards, pasta and wines of Rome."

I can't help but laugh before Ahsoka logs into the holo with her Master passcodes, giving us more unfettered access than Cayle or I can provide. "I can presume you're not about to pull me into a mess?"

"Of course not, Master." Cayle shakes his head. "I threw in Kyle to help Twos sort."

"Kyle." Ahsoka nods.

"Masters." Cayle's AI, Kyle replies coolly. "What is it that we're looking for today?"

"Don't know." Cayle explains. "Ezra, where are we starting?"

I smile at everyone as they turn to me. "Start with the day before the announcement in Sacramento broke. Focus on encrypted apps, message boards, shady internet threads."

"On it." Kyle and Twos both say simultaneously before the two holos we have up start blurring as the twos AIs start dueling it out in a mad dash for information.

Padmé leans back onto the auditorium like desk seating and sips her coffee. "So. Tell me about this girl."

Oh come on. How many times…

Ahsoka and Cayle laugh as Anakin smirks and moves to sit. "Nothing to tell."

"Yet." Cayle corrects me.

"We think he likes her." Ahsoka explains. "She's got a temper, but they seem to work together really well."

Cayle silent presses a few buttons on a remote, and the holo closest to me pulls up Sabine's biography. "You made a hologram of her?" I ask him.

"I let Kyle do it." He shrugs as the hologram of Sabine, who has her hands crossed in front of her looks up and smiles widely before tucking her purple and orange hair back a bit.

"I like it." Ahsoka compliments the work.

"Thank you, Master Tano." Kyle says before Cayle snaps at Kyle.

Focus.

He doesn't want his AI to lose to mine.

Padmé leans forward, eyes snaking her biography. "She is pretty. Wait…" She hesitates, then fully turns to me. "Why aren't you with her today?"

"I'm not in a great mood." I confess.

I'm just on edge.

Master Skywalker nods in understanding. "I understand."

"I'm trying to channel it into productivity. Hence no lightsaber training today."

Cayle chimes in "Plus Master Dooku is still on his sabbatical, so…"

"I can work without him." I try to deflect the implication. "I'm just… on edge."

"Her family is here?" Master Skywalker asks.

Cayle nods. "Family Day at USC Soccer. So says Ezra, and our friends in Chicago."

"Why are they in on this?" Padmé looks to Anakin.

"We trust Ezra to exercise judgement. We don't trust the Mandalorians. Their Mand'alor is…"

"Aloof, arrogant. Incapable of seeing a big picture and likes cutting off his nose to spite his face." Ahsoka frowns.

Feels like I should jump in here before this gets out of control and turns into another attack on Sabine's character.

"Never mentioned anything to be though. So…" I look to Cayle.

"Don't look at me." He quickly says. "This is the Council."

"It's an advancement on going and asking her about that first party. Then barging in on us as we were finally talking about it. You're in the way."

Ahsoka leans forward. "We need to be in the way."

"Based on what?" I bite.

"Her established pattern of behavior." She emphasizes before looking to Anakin.

I in turn look to him as his sips his caf. "Behavioral Analysis doesn't think she's a big threat."

"But you've got an extensive bio on her, including knowing when her family is coming!" Padmé shoots at him.

"I didn't know that." Anakin raises his hands defensively. "I've been busy talking to Alderaan about our next pilgrimage to the Kyber caves. That's a Cayle, Ahsoka and Kanan thing."

Padmé turns to Cayle. "Well?"

Cayle looks to Ahsoka, who frowns at me. "Small sheep."

"I don't care about small sheep!" Padmé snaps. "Ezra clearly cares about her as a friend. Give him the rope to hang himself."

"It's not Ezra." Ahsoka reassures her.

Wait…What?

I turn in surprise, catching Cayle's eyes before Padmé's eyebrows drop. "It's her?"

"It's the Mandalorians. Chicago is a disaster right now." Ahsoka diverts the heat from Cayle.

She's dodging. Dancing really.

My phone suddenly goes off in my pocket, causing me to jump and for everyone to look to me before Cayle smirks.

Oh he thinks he knows…oh?

Sabine Wren – New iMessage

"Do you want to go for breakfast?"

Smiling to myself, I answer "Sure. Later, I'm tied up between things right now."

Wait…

I quickly tap back to the thread and add "Aren't you with your folks? Go eat with them!"

"Ezra."

I look up from my phone at Twos calling for my attention. "Yeah Twos?"

"Message board, Twos?" Cayle asks as the screen is showing the beginnings of a thread.

"Boys, I'm not so sure lackeys like those in Washington are capable of going to such clumsy, sludgy lengths to acquire Vader. Mathematically speaking, there's only between a .02% and .034% chance of them finding him this way. The drone program that was just authorized, within it has a stimulus for their drone program aimed toward the Middle East. He's probably there." – Chauz Mackey

The room is silent as everyone reads. "Okay. Well that's wrong."

"Right." Padmé corrects him. "The drones in the gulf are receiving stimulus."

"Why? Cayle fires back. "The official position of Palpatine is pulling out of combat zones."

Feels like there's something in my eyes…

I rub the backs of my hands into my eyes, blink a couple of times as the debate rages behind me. "—the sky. If we can blow a house with four insurgents without killing their families, where they're isolated, that's a huge PR change. I mean, our current position is to make children fear the sky. They think that the sky just delivers death and destruction. You wonder why it's always a hot spot?"

"Once they figure out it's not the sky though…" Cayle counters,

"Oh no, it's the USA?" Padmé asks. "Not better! And Palpatine's generals are convinced that it's the people. No! It's the fact that we've got a young generation that think that the US is a harbinger of death and doom, making them susceptible to extremist messages!

My eyes still itch.

I blink hard a few times, then reach for my water to—

"Oh!" I blurt out, doubling back to really get a good look. "Anagram! Stenographic anagram!"

Anakin bites his lip. "Twos, any additional data size in that post?"

"No, Master Skywalker."

"Twos, start a search for Billings, Montana with a filter for the numbers 2 and 4."

Cayle turns and ask "What are you seeing?

"Okay Ezra." Twos speaks over Cayle. "Anything else?"

"Bring up the post again with a white space off to the side." I ask, then smile at her results. "Nice. Here." I turn to the others.

"Results found." Kyle reports.

"How?" Cayle blurts out as Master Skywalker leans forward.

"The first letters of the words. It's a message. Those percentages aren't a coincidence. Remember how you spoiled that bribery in the armed services committee?" I turn to Master Skywalker and his wife.

Padmé lights up. "Oh!"

"Look at it." I tell everyone, then start highlighting the specific letters."

"Boys, I'm not so sure lackeys like those in Washington are capable of going to such clumsy, sludgy lengths to acquire Vader. Mathematically speaking, there's only between a .02% and .034% chance of them finding him this way. The drone program that was just authorized, within it has a stimulus for their drone program aimed toward the Middle East. He's probably there." – Chauz Mackey

Billings, MA 02034.

"So Mackey is a front profile." Padmé comments.

"It's a message." Ahsoka says.

Master Skywalker suddenly starts toward the door. "I'll go talk to Windu about firing up a transport. If we scramble a tac and surveillance team, we should be able to catch them!" he explains, then sprints out of view.

"I'm on it." Ahsoka starts following him, with Cayle right behind her.

"Who do you think it is? Gut instinct?" He asks me.

Ahsoka hits the brakes hard as I feel all three of them focus on me. "Maul. Nobody is named Chauz. Add that his first two letters of his last name…?"

"I like it!" Cayle says, then leaves the room. "IIIIIII LIKE IT!"

(30 Hours Later)

"Hello!" A hostess smiles warmly at me as the door chimes, indicating that a new customer just walked into the small diner that's apparently named after a famous USC football coach.

I return the smile. "Hi. I'm here with someone, I think they're already here…?"

"Purple hair?" She asks, and I nod. "Yeah, she is. Right this way." She then beams before grabbing a menu and leading me towards the windows and a table set across.

And there's Sabine.

"There she is…your waitress is getting her drink, what can I get you to drink?" She smiles as Sabine turns, then moves to stand.

"Orange juice." I say before taking the menu from her. "Thank you."

The hostess says something I don't totally pick up as Sabine quickly jogs to me and hugs me strongly. "Hi."

"Hey. What's the occasion?"

She smiles at my teasing comment. "What? I can't just want to eat an actual breakfast with you?"

"You can, it's just different is all." I remark.

"Weirdo. How was your weekend?"

I shrug nonchalantly before answering "Fine. Quiet. I should be asking you that. How was your family?"

"Great. Everyone's great. I actually need to talk to you about that."

"Sabine—" I start before she cuts me off.

"It's not what you think, okay?" She fixes me with a glare.

I freeze up, then nod. "Alright…"

"What you said about not wanting to talk makes a lot more sense now, actually."

What?

"What are you talking about? It was just a meeting."

Sabine quickly drops whatever act she's playing. "No, it wasn't. My Dad said that Mand'alor was there."

Oh?

"Yeah, I didn't know that until I've got some lawyer types going on about how he demanded to be at the meeting. You're Mandalorian." I tell her.

"I've heard." She smirks.

"That's a big deal." I double down.

Sabine sighs. "It's a complicated history, especially with the Jedi, wherever the hell they are. But what I do know, is that apparently that dumb meeting was very, very contentious. Everyone from that night was there. Cayle, the guy that arrested everyone, Agents Sinara and Ward, the ones who talked to me…why didn't you tell me?" She finishes, looking upset.

"It's my problem. I didn't want to worry you. It's all a bunch of legal crap. Because of the martial arts I know to protect myself, I have to be registered. My paperwork was working its way thru the stupid system here in California, and everything happened before everything cleared."

Sabine kicks me under the table. "You still should have told me. That whole thing was my mess."

"Sabine—" I start before our waitress starts her approach.

She's on a full on power trip…

"Here you guys go…what would you like to eat, or do you want another few minutes to look at the menu?" She asks.

"You go first." I tell Sabine, then glance around for pancakes or something…

Got it.

"And for you sir?" She asks after jotting down Sabine's order.

"I'll have the malted pancakes with sides of hash browns and bacon please." I request, then hand back the menu with a smile.

"I'll get that right out!"

Our waitress bounces away and Sabine sips her coffee before visibly working herself back into the argument. "I don't want to fight with you about this. It's over now anyway." I tell her.

"I'm not playing right now. On game days I pretty much am free until an hour before. I could have gone up there, defended you, gotten you totally off the hook and been back in plenty of time."

"Thanks. But you're going to be back on the team. It's best that you keep your head down. Leaving to help me would have drug everything back up. But thank you for wanting to help. Really, it wasn't too bad. I appreciate it."

"Dad and Mand'alor said Cayle did most of the talking for you."

"Yeah, my lawyers pretty much—"

Wait, her dad said what?!

"Your dad?" I stop myself.

For the first time, Sabine smirks. "He said he saw you. Wanted to introduce himself, but you left as soon as it was over."

That's who was with Mand'alor…

"He was Mand'alor's guest, wasn't he."

Sabine smiles and nods. "Boba asked him to come, to get a real read on you and what happened since it all was so weird. Whatever it was, they both really liked you."

"Really?" I ask.

I was an asshole. Granted, I was inhibited and had weapons pointed at me, but I was not nice at any point of that meeting.

"Really." Sabine smiles even wider. "They relayed the whole meeting to us, said really it was a waste of time. Vader's whole thing took up all of the higher-ups attention so you had to spar with assistants."

"What'd they say?"

"That." Sabine smirks. "You had a meeting, it was contentious but eventually you were basically cleared. Whole thing was overshadowed by Vader. JJ has questions for you, of course. We're invited over for dinner tonight."

"We?" I tease her.

"You know what I mean. Did you see him?" She asks, unable to hide her curiosity.

I shake my head. "No. They're right, everything was locked down. We had to park like three miles away, outside the entire complex, which is why we left right away. Extra security, phones confiscated so no pictures."

"Did you see any Jedi?"

"No." I laugh. "I think Cayle knows somebody who does. He had a short conversation with somebody I've never met before." Sabine looks crestfallen before I joke "I'm not important, remember."

"You know people though."

"You know Mand'alor!" I counter.

Sabine waves away my assertion. "That's different though."

Oh wow, food's here already.

"Food's here." I tell Sabine, who turns and smiles.