Automated cued chants drift through the arena's speaker system as I walk down the steps, towards where Matt is sitting, hand drifting back towards his popcorn.

I wouldn't mind getting a small popcorn.

"Hey." I announce my arrival with a smile, causing Matt to turn and smile.

"Hey man, what's—what happened to your knee?" He changes tact midway through his greeting, eyes falling onto my cumbersome knee brace.

"Hurt it." I shrug while sitting down.

A slight glare meets me before Matt pops off. "I can see that. That's a huge brace. Did you tear something?"

"Partially."

The arena roars as a USC basketball player hits a basket, followed by the PA calling out their name.

Not JJ.

"Surgery?"

I nod once. "They say it won't be too bad. I'll be back to normal within a month."

Thank you bacta.

"Oh then, that's not bad at all. That's basically a scope." Matt's expression finally lightens. "When are you getting worked on?"

"Don't know yet." I twirl my phone in my hand. "My folks wanted a second opinion, with a doctor they trust. And they want to pick a surgeon, all that."

Matt winces. "So you're waiting."

"Yup."

"How'd you hurt it?"

Dammit Matt…

"If anybody asks, I slipped and fell down the stairs at Christmas." I tell him.

"You were fine when I saw you." He rushes out immediately.

Yeah.

I give him a soft glare, only for him to quickly light up.

"Ohhhh…" he smiles. "Jedi thing."

"Jackass kicked me dead in the knee." I reveal on a whim. "Cheap shot."

"Like—" Matt pauses, then mimes chopping me straight on in the knee. I nod, which gets him to cringe. "Damn, it's a miracle you didn't tear a ligament."

I nod and play along. "Only strained. I was hoping I could hobble my way through it, but they made me get another MRI which didn't help my cause."

"Is that why Sabine's been over with you so much?"

"Sort of." I roll my shoulders. "She's been babying me."

Sit down, don't move so much, get off your feet!

Matt's face break into an enormous grin. "Oh shut up." I lightly shove his shoulder.

"I didn't say anything!"

"You were thinking it." I correct him.

"Hey." He raises his hands defensively. "I just want to be invited to the wedding. You guys' chemistry is off the chain. She loves you."

"Eh." I dismiss that.

"Oh yes." He smiles again. "Over Christmas I was texting her about stuff, and she mentioned you all the time. I'm not shocked you guys picked up right where you left off. Maybe even better."

Sabine talked to Matt over the break?

The crowd roars in surprise as the ball is spiked out of bounds by a big, lumbering guy for USC, distracting the both of us for a moment.

"Speaking of her, I figured she'd be with you."

She said she was coming when I had to duck off to the Temple.

"Í think she's down there." Matt points to the sections full of students, all dressed alike and acting like lunatics. "Jaicey too."

My eyes linger on a trio of shirtless guys with Greek letters painted on their chests before I glance up to the massive JumboTron. "Looks like a fun time. Why aren't you down there?"

"Hah." Matt's tone turns derisive. "You know how I can get swarmed at parties?"

"Yeah." I nod.

He hates it.

"It's a thousand times worse at something like this. Just 'Can I get a picture? Can I get an autograph?'." He rolls his eyes. "I always do it for the kids, it's the adults that annoy me."

"Yeah." I nod in agreement.

Kind of sad.

My spirits sink slightly as Matt glances back to the game as he is wearing an all grey Nike sweatsuit along with shiny new shoes and a flat brimmed hat.

Probably his version of a disguise.

And he was alone before I came here.

"Well thanks for letting me join you."

Matt quickly smiles again. "No problem dude, it's nice to have the company. But sometimes I just…want to be normal."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be."

I wish I was normal.

"At least you can dip out anywhere and nobody recognize you." His tone turns bitter once more. "Being…top recruit, plus a quarterback means everybody knows of you before they know you."

"I know soccer's different, but I think that's partially why Sabine left home."

"It's nice to get away." He agrees. "But football is way different. On all my recruiting trips, I was mobbed when I wasn't being shuttled around. Treated like a celebrity."

There's that scowl again.

"Plus I am kind of a Southern Cali guy. Stay close to home, see my family, go home if I want to. There's benefits…you know what I mean."

"It'd be nice to be normal." I finish the conversation.

I think I do want that popcorn.

"I'm gonna go grab some popcorn and a drink too. You want anything?" I divert us.

Matt shakes his drink. "Yeah, another Coke please. If you don't mind. I'll get you back."

"Coke? I'll have to tell the papers." I joke, instantly breaking the ice.

"As long as you don't tell Twitter." He laughs while digging for his wallet.

"I got it."

"No, no, I—" he begins to insist.

I quickly throw my hand up to stop him. "Don't worry about it. I got it."

"Seriously?"

I nod then joke. "Consider it from Dooku." Before starting my way back up the stairs.

Now…to find the concessions stand.

…

I was hoping to see Sabine. I need to ask for a favor.

The Council acted on a moment of brilliance by Master Plo, who had the thought of asking Kamino to create a new knee ligament for me. Which is something nobody in the moment considered, but makes a ton of sense.

Dad didn't just modify my bones. He modified everything. And it's come in handy in the past, being a little extra flexible. And having a genetically modified body but a new reconstructed, but normal knee ligament is asking for trouble.

I'd probably end up doing something normal, thinking I can do it. Then pop the thing again and end up exactly where I am again.

Master Dooku and Master Jinn are already flying down to talk to the Kaminoans about it. Which is why I had to duck out today and head to the Temple.

Thankfully Sabine stopped being a mother hen and let me go.

She didn't handle my new brace and news of upcoming surgery very well.

At least we have a plan now.

Assuming the Kaminoans say yes, we'll get my new ligament back here in a day or two. Then I'll have the surgery and go to Kanan and Hera's.

Kanan and Hera talked it over last night, and they're inviting Sabine for dinner so that she can meet everybody for real this time, pick me up and take me home.

Everybody seems keen on the thought that she'll take care of me. I can take care of myself though.

Thankfully the Council is allowing me to use bacta from the start of the surgery. Taking a yearlong recovery time and cutting the entire process down to maybe as short as a month.

I'll have to do some specific exercises at the Temple a couple of times a week, and take it easy. But all in all, I'm getting really lucky.

I can still do my dance class with Sabine with no problems, I'll just have to wear my brace.

There's the concessions stand.

I walk right up to the front of the line, where one of the attendants turns and smiles at me.

"Hey Hun, what can I get for you?"

Two guys in collared shirts grab the door for me, allowing me to slip through and into the house at large.

"Thanks." I call back, only to receive a nod in return.

Alright…now where is everybody.

The sitting room is filled with strangers, and I swoop around one of the couches to avoid altering the conversation.

Oh hey, there's Trey.

"Long time, no see." I crack a smile as his partner, somebody I don't know lines up a shot in their game of beer pong.

Trey turns, then smiles from ear to ear and moves to hug me. "Bro! What's up!"

"Not much. Good Christmas?" I ask, returning the hug.

"Eh, it was alright. Boring though. Missed being here, life's a lot more fun here than at home—just a sec."

Trey turns his attention to the game and lines up shot, only for it to cruelly clank off the back of a cup and miss.

"Brutal." I sympathize with him while he winces at his misfortune.

"So brutal." He repeats. "Anyway, yeah. I missed everybody here. You looking for Sabine? She just got here with Jaicey—oh!"

His opponent's shot misses so badly I catch it out of reflex, then hand the ping pong ball over. "Oh?"

"You gotta get her. She's…" Trey makes a face.

I don't know what that means.

"Yeah?"

Cut to the chase.

"She came here with Jaicey and a bunch of soccer girls who are already trashed." He leans closes to me and lowers his voice. "Gang of Greeks with them too, with Sabine on one of their arms. So you'd better hurry."

Ehhh…

"I'm not her keeper." I counter.

She can make decisions for herself.

"I'm not saying you are." Trey counters before another of his shots miss off the side, only for him to stay on track. "But do you really want Sabine going for a tumble with another Greek dude?"

Not really, no.

"It doesn't matter if I do or don't." I counter. "She's not mine, just my friend."

Trey's expression turns to something mirroring disgust before he shoves me to the door.

Well then…

I guess I'll find Matt and JJ.

And I'll probably find Jaicey too.

Slipping out of the house's back door, I amble down the steps out into the spacious back yard where people are in a pool, multiple yard games are going on and somebody else has nice fire in a fire pit.

"Hey." I hear somebody say softly, diverting my attention to—

Aubrey—what the hell.

"I thought I felt you here…" She beams, then closes the gap between us and—

—

What—

"You got a second?" She separates from me, only to shoot me a smile.

A beautiful smile.

"Uhh, yeah. I just got here." I mumble out.

She—

I can't believe she just walked right up and kissed me.

I haven't kissed her since—

Suddenly, Aubrey's got my hand and is diverting me through the backyard, around one of the games and towards gate.

What. Is. Happening.

"When'd you get here?" I croak out.

Aubrey quickly giggles, then looks back with a smile on her face. "About twenty minutes ago. You okay back there?"

"Yeah."

"Cause you sound like you're not okay." She turns back around and continues pulling me behind her.

Finally we loop back to the front end of the house and by a tree before she leans up against it. "Been looking all over for you. Too many dumb parties."

"You've been looking for me?"

Aubrey's smile only grows again. "Yeah. I've needed to talk to you."

That's…not good.

"What?" She asks, reading my expression apparently.

I let out a breath, then lean up against the tree. "I…I'm glad to see you too. But it's going to be kind of a problem."

"Problem?" She tilts her head. "How?"

"The…Jedi found security camera footage of us last time. Got yelled at a bit for it. They told me next time I saw you, I needed to tell you that they want to talk to you."

"I'm not talking to them." She shakes her head violently.

"They don't want to do anything. They just want to talk." I explain.

Aubrey's expression doesn't alter a bit. "I don't care! Ezra, I—" She stops, then composes herself.

"I…told you what I do now. I was honest. They'll arrest me."

"I don't think they care about that." I reply. "They only mentioned old stuff. I think they want to talk to you because you're…you."

You're Aubrey. The girl who got to me before I flipped.

They really harped on her when I turned myself in.

I know they've looked for her.

"So what? We're adults now, and it's not like those are happy memories. I'm not going." She protests, crossing her arms as if an exclamation point.

"I…I'll have to tell them I saw you."

"Fine. Cover your ass. I'm not coming in."

"They won't do anything, I promise." I reassure her. "I won't let them."

Aubrey's eyes roll violently. "You won't let them…when we both know you're their toy."

"I'm not their toy."

"You turned yourself into them. You're only out because they're letting you out. You should be in a cell."

Ow.

I shift my weight off the tree and return the crossed arms gesture. "I—that came out worse than I intended." She apologizes.

"Why were you looking for me." I demand of her.

"I—"

"What is it?" I ask again. "Information? Blackmail? Bribery? Help on a job?"

Aubrey's expression can't hide her pain. "Your tone changed fast."

"I'm not a toy. I left so that nobody would have control over me ever again." I don't bother hiding my scowl, only lowering my voice. "Now why are you here?"

Tell me! Now!

"I was working in Asia—"

I told you about Asia. That's my hunch.

"—and I found an old friend of your Dad's. Archie."

Archibald Gideon.

Mid-Rank Lieutenant for the Empire.

The Jedi want him, but he's gone to ground.

"You shouldn't be poking around in Asia. I threw that to you as just an idea."

Aubrey crosses her arms again. "An idea which I decided to investigate while I took a job over there."

"Why?"

"I wanted some Christmas shopping money." She turns her voice slightly haughty. "And before you ask, it was on the up and up. Took it from the Syndicate and one of the tracking fobs. Easy money. But I saw Gideon."

"Saw him?"

"From a distance." She clarifies. "I was sipping a drink on a balcony overlooking a market. And as I did, a man with extra protection waltzed right into the market. Knew it was him immediately."

"How so?"

Physically he can blend in with any middle aged black man. Greying hair, receding hairline, mustache.

"You know how he loved capes."

"Ohh…" I concede the point, getting a smirk out of her before she moves to sip a glass bottle of a green drink.

"Didn't engage, didn't do shit. Just sipped my coffee and hung around for another day." She resumes. "Same time, same spot for me. Exact same for him."

"You think he lives there?"

Aubrey shrugs, then sets the drink back down on a root. "Geylang is well known in the region for its criminal underbelly. Can't do anything without a good bribe."

"Geylang?" I parrot her.

Never heard of it.

"Singapore." She clarifies.

"Okay…sounds like his kind of place."

Aubrey smiles again. "Exactly. And it stuck out to me because of your theory that Elias could slip on down to that corner of the world and vanish."

"You shouldn't be chasing him. He knows you."

"I'm not chasing him, I'm not stupid. I killed two birds with one stone." She justifies herself.

I shake my head at the thought. "He knows knows you though. You were over for dinner, he knows I liked you."

"He knows I liked you too." She counters.

"Not helping! He'd kill you on even the off chance that it'd hurt me."

He'd enjoy it.

Aubrey's expression turns soft suddenly. "You think so?"

"Yes! He doesn't do 'I'm gonna let you off with a warning'." I tell her.

I was good at my job. Elias enjoyed it.

I never really did.

"You think Elias would be in the area? Gideon did get away, some online digging told me that." Aubrey gets us back on track.

I shrug, then run my hand thru my hair blankly. "It's a possibility. He could certainly be trying to build up a power base."

It's the logical move.

To strike back at the Jedi. At me.

"I can go back if you want me to." She volunteers.

No.

"Please don't." I ask her. "I…just let me get on the horn about this."

"No!" She protests. "Say it's an anonymous source, an idea you had. I don't want to mess with the Jedi."

"They're going to find out regardless." I reply. "They monitor me 24/7. I know that. That's how they found out about us last time. I forgot to tell them because it was just nice to see you. Next thing I know they're at my place, demanding answers."

"And?"

"I told them it wasn't a big deal. We ate, chatted, that was it. It was great seeing you. It is." I give her a smile.

It is awesome to see her.

She's…turned out to be really beautiful.

Which isn't exactly a shocker. She's always been pretty to me.

"It's great seeing you." Aubrey splits into a wide smile. "I…I missed you too. It's great that you've got all this going on."

"Thanks." I blurt out.

That sounded so lame.

"Anyway—" I start before somebody slides out from behind to tree to my right, her left.

What the—Cayle—

"I'm sorry. We're kind of having a conversation…?" Aubrey's tone turns icy and blunt.

"I know. I won't be long. I'm Cayle, I'm with the Jedi. Hi." Cayle introduces himself before briefly flashing his badge at her.

Aubrey takes a half step back before I raise my hand. "it's…okay. I trust him. He's my best friend within the Jedi."

"Ow." Cayle turns to me, looking slightly hurt. "Not best friend period? I'm replaced already huh?"

"Really?" I turn to him.

NOT NOW!

Cayle's sadness turns into a smirk. "I'm giving you shit. Anyway—" he turns back to Aubrey, who still looks ready to run. "I'm not here to arrest you or anything. I'm just here to talk."

"How are you here period?" Aubrey fires right back.

"Somebody has to DD for him whenever he decides to be irresponsible." Cayle replies. "Which isn't enough, but since his friend is…being her, I figured I'd monitor things. Glad I did."

Aubrey stares right through him for a moment, then bends down and grabs her drink. "Go."

Damn.

"Okay." Cayle somehow smiles. "I'll add that I've heard everything. I like the intel, and we appreciate it. And that he's—" He elbows me. "—telling the truth. The Council just wants to talk."

"The what?" Aubrey asks.

"Doesn't matter." Cayle waves away her question. "But Ezra's mentioned you—"

Aubrey cuts him off. "I heard that part. The Jedi Council wants to talk. To me."

Cayle nods. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. You have insider knowledge of Ezra's day to day life when he was living with his parents. You knew his mom. You know things very few others do that'll talk to us. Even fewer aren't wanted." Cayle completes his point valiantly.

Aubrey's face contorts. "You…heard my job right?"

"Don't care about that. Everybody's got to eat somehow. Hell, we might even hire you if you're good enough." I laugh, and Aubrey smirks. "What?"

"You're not hiring me." Aubrey clarifies for him. "I'm too expensive."

"Name your number and I'll run it." Cayle dares her.

Wait…

She's actually gonna say it.

"Minimum for a job, intel only is fifty grand."

Damn.

"Sounds like a bargain to me." Cayle disagrees.

WHAT?!

"Really?" Aubrey says on my behalf.

"Doesn't sound like one to me." I add.

Cayle nods. "Yeah. Especially since you've displayed loyalty. If you've gone far enough to think about Elias, and find this Gideon, then I'm sure you know the numbers on his head."

Yeah.

$500,000 just for information on me. Actionable, verifiable intelligence.

$1,000,000,000 for me dead. Just the bounty.

I'm worth two billion alive.

"The numbers that are out there have to be fake. They're too big." Aubrey replies.

"No they're not." Cayle and I both say at the same time.

I heard Kanan say once that all of Dad's offshore money that we didn't get is probably locked up in that bounty. Especially since I'm the one that can open everything up.

And I kind of am that valuable.

I used to be 1 of 1. Before Elias came along.

"You wouldn't happen to know who has the bounty out, would you?" Cayle asks.

Aubrey instantly shakes her head. "No. I don't shoot all that high. I just pay my bills."

"Offer's out there…" Cayle volunteers again.

"Until it gets shot down by your Master." Aubrey retorts.

Cayle pinches the bridge of his nose. "How about this. You go back inside and grab another drink. And we can talk all this out."

Aubrey hesitates, thinking it over for a moment before turning to me as she walks away. "You want what I'm having?"

"Can't, I'm getting surgery."

Aubrey spins on the spot. "Getting what?!"

Cayle turns to hide his expression of glee before I sigh and move to roll up the leg of my sweatpants, revealing my bulky, annoying knee brace.

"What happened?!" She demands, briskly returning to us.

"He'll tell you when you get back." Cayle interrupts.

CAYLE!

I close my eyes and try not to scream for an instant before opening them again and seeing Aubrey walking towards the house. "Dude."

"Don't 'dude' me." I tell him.

"She's hot."

"She's always been hot. Except hot used to be just cute." I feed into his idiocy.

Puberty was nice to her.

"Hell, I'd almost say ditch Sabine and go for her. But I don't think that's a thing. By the way—"

"Cayle." I warn him.

"What in the hell is she doing?"

"I don't know." I lie.

Cayle rolls his eyes at me. "Don't lie to me. You know."

"I never saw her."

"But I bet you heard. I'll cover her." Cayle gestures to the house. "Go get Sabine. Before she adds a notch to her bedpost. Or do it yourself."

"Cayle!" I nap at him angrily. "Just…don't. Just don't."

"Oh come on." His whole body sways, revealing his exasperation. "You know who has peeked at your footage, on behalf of the Council? Me. I saw you accessed Brett's file."

Shit.

"I know you think I'm being judgey. But I know what I see. And what she wants? Is you." He points back towards the house again. "She can't keep her hands off you. And neither could you."

That part is true.

"Just…" He pauses, seemingly looking for the words. "Go do something stupid for once in your life. I bet it'll work out."

"I've done a lot of stupid things."

Cayle gives me a glare. "Then you should prevent her from doing one. Because the guy? Just like all the others. Drunken her has a type."

I'm not…

No.

That's not my place. That's not my job.

She's my friend.

I'm not the love police.

And it's not my business whoever she crawls into bed with.