The sliding glass door behind me slides shut, followed by Matt's footsteps while Sabine's voice floats out onto the porch.

She's turned her speaker up a bit. I can hear a little bit of the song she's singing, but it's mostly her.

It's not fair that Sabine can sing too. It's really not.

…

She keeps doing stuff like that, I'm going to go to the Council with an actual problem.

"Thanks for inviting me over." Matt says pleasantly. "And I really appreciate you changing your schedule to help out today."

"No problem." I answer while fiddling with the gas a little bit.

I was free. Not that big of a deal, almost a Friday treat.

"Is every Friday going to be like that from now on?" I ask, eliciting a laugh from Matt.

"Yeah, unfortunately. I've got experience with that stuff though so…"

I'd never even thought of reporters and media showing up to interview him.

There we were, end of practice. Matt and I are walking and talking, minding our own business until somebody claiming to be with 'Media Relations' asked us to follow him.

Next thing I know there's about 50 reporters, tons of cameras. All of whom started hollering and jockeying for Matt's attention.

I'm disturbed that the Force didn't warn me about it. I didn't probe, but usually I can feel a large gathering of people's energy, all pent up in the Force.

Maybe it's because they could care less who I am.

And I fled for cover as soon as possible.

"Did you have to do a lot of interviews when you were being recruited?"

Matt nods. "Yeah. Recruiting sites, national networks because of my ranking, I was on the Elite 11 show—"

"You were on a TV show?" I blurt out.

So this was cake for you!

Matt laughs and smiles at me. "Yeah. The top 24 or so quarterbacks get flown up to Nike in Oregon to compete, get evaluated, all that. They turned it into a TV show a couple of years ago."

Sounds to me like a good opportunity to get the top 24 quarterbacks on your payroll without raising any eyebrows.

"So that's why you stayed close to home. Hollywood." I tease him.

"No!" Matt chuckles while vigorously shaking his head. "No. I don't want all that celebrity. You know that."

"Then what are you looking at?" I reply, seeing that he's on Twitter right now.

"I've got to see how I did." He defends himself.

Turning back to my grill, I reply. "I'm sure you did fine."

"Better than Tate did."

Oh Tate.

On my very first day, Matt told me about this kid. Named Tate, he's apparently a lesser version of Matt last year. Much hyped Freshman quarterback.

And boy does he have an arrogance problem.

"Lemme guess, he's immature." I deadpan.

"Ding ding ding!" Matt makes his own sound effects. "On Monday, if I 'accidentally' bean him in the head with a football, back me up and say it was an accident, okay?"

Oh no.

"What'd he say?"

Matt goes quiet for a moment. "Quote: 'I've been in tougher battles for playing time. Nobody here scares me. I expect to be named the starter by the end of Spring.' End quote." Matt reads. "Yeah right…"

"Isn't that the end of March?"

"Yup." Matt confirms.

That won't happen. I still am learning what I'm seeing, but Matt is far and away the best guy at his position there. This Tate kid can throw a ball a long way, but you're in luck if it goes where he wants it to go.

"So ridiculous…and oh great! It's on the group text. Kill me now…" Matt groans. "I'm gonna go grab that wine. You want some?"

"Nah, I'll have some later." I reply, then grab my brush to clean off the grill's grate.

I'm just glad it's the weekend. Or at least finally a weekend that I don't have to bury myself in work to keep up. I think I'll go to dinner at Hera and Kanan's either Saturday or Sunday.

And if I'm lucky, I'll get a whole night of Sabine to myself.

The back door swings open, then shut again as I scrub away at the grate. "Sabine overruled you."

"Oh well." I turn back to Matt and take the proffered glass of wine.

"You guys seem to be doing pretty well."

I make a noncommittal noise while turning back to the grill. "Same as always really."

"No way." Matt dismisses the idea out of hand. "She owns your bathroom. She's annexed like half of your living room. Her groceries are in your fridge. She's here more than our dorm and—" He glances back at the door, where Sabine's singing floats to us thru the open window beside it.

"—I've seen her Snapchat and IG story. And I can recognize when she's wearing your shirts."

She's wearing one of mine right now.

"She's a clothes thief." I counter. "I would complain about it, but Cayle's told me not to."

"Yeah! It's the ultimate compliment! They're shagger tees!"

"Shagger—what?" I ask.

Matt's smile grows even wider. "Shagger tees. It's a sign of conquest after you sleep with somebody. She'll steal your shirt and wear it home so she doesn't have to return home in her old outfit. Makes the walk of shame a lot more bearable."

"Walk of shame?"

Matt groans at my newest question. "Google it. And I don't really if you have or not. It's cool man, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, but nothing's changed."

"Alright, then what are you two doing for Valentine's Day?" He asks, then sips his wine and waits.

"Valentine's Day?" I repeat after him.

Oh no.

I've never really done Valentine's Day.

I've never had anybody to do the whole Valentine's Day thing with.

Will Sabine expect me to do something?

"Yes!" Matt nods. "Valentine's Day. February 14th every year. Next week. Less than, in fact. You've got to do something for Sabine."

"No I don't." I stall for time.

Either I do, or somebody else might…

Yeah, that can't happen.

"If you don't somebody else will. And I know you say how you don't care if Sabine gets with other people. But one of these days it's going to stick."

Doubt that.

"What about you? What are you doing for Valentine's Day? You don't have a girlfriend." I divert us from such fraught waters.

"I might do something with somebody. I don't know. You know me, I'm happily single."

I set the grate back into the grill. "Sabine and I have seen you coming out of class on Tuesday and Thursday with a girl. Same one, every time."

Immediately Matt goes pale. "What? No, no you haven't."

Oh you suck at lying.

"Yeah I have." I smile. "And remember, I'm trained to know when you're lying."

"I'm not lying."

A sentence usually preceded by a lie.

"Neither of you have ever said anything! She's just a friend of mine, we sit next to each other in class."

"Sounds familiar to me…" I tease him, and immediately feel him start to squirm thru the Force—

Huh?

"—no big deal, what?" Matt asks me as I pop up from behind the grill as I probe again and feel the same, familiar Force Signature approaching from the direction of the stairs.

"I thought I heard—" I lie, then cut myself short as Master Dooku continues his way up the stairs, dressed in his signature attire, complete with the signature silver clip keeping his cape in place.

Matt turns to look just as Dooku reaches the top step. "You must be Mr. Saracen. Sar Dooku." Dooku extends his hand to shake.

"Sir." Matt nods. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Pleasure is all mine." Master Dooku accepts the compliment with grace before turning to me. "Young one."

"Master." I bow my head. "Welcome."

"Thank you." Dooku smiles before turning back to Matt. "I apologize for interrupting your conversation. But I need to speak with him." He gestures to me.

"Of course. Excuse me." Matt says quickly, then darts in thru the door in a flash, closing it behind him.

He didn't handle that too badly.

I turn back from the door and ask "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No no, I won't be staying for too long. I don't want to intrude on your weekend just as it is beginning."

"You're not intruding." I retort just as Dooku flexes two fingers and I hear the lock engage.

Ensuring privacy.

"However, intrusions can still occur." He corrects me.

Fair point.

"The Council sends me with an update on your suspected tail, or formerly suspected tail."

"Formerly?"

You mean I got fooled?

Those guys are still following me, rotating every few days.

"Formerly suspected. Mrs. Syndulla and I have put our heads and our intelligence together and come to the conclusion that you are being followed."

Great.

"Any idea on who?"

At this, Dooku smiles thinly and procures a tablet for me. "Sign in."

I do as I'm told, then hand the tablet back and watch Master Dooku as he expertly navigates the interface. "See? Not that hard."

"Much practice, I assure you. I still hold firm that ink and paper are superior." Dooku praises the tactile ways of the past. "However, I am not against adapting to the times. And there is much time and resources to be saved by the switching of technologies."

"Very true." I concede the point with a smile.

"Using video surveillance from the University, we successfully were able to locate the individuals you suspected of tailing you, along with two others."

"Two others?"

Dooku nods. "The good news is we believe them to be with the first group, not two separate entities. They all work together at the same place."

"Where?"

Dooku smiles thinly before answering. "The White House."

THE WHAT?!

"So it's Palpatine?"

"The Council believes so, and so do I." Dooku nods.

Out of habit, I sip my wine and pace for an instant. "So…who is following me? What's their story?"

"That's the wrinkle." Dooku moves to lean against the side of the porch, diagonal from me. "All five individuals have worked for Palpatine for over 10 years, before he ran for the highest office."

"They didn't look like hired guns."

They looked completely normal really. Down to the fact that they blew their cover and couldn't hide from me for shit.

"They're not. Three of the five are actually speechwriters. One a foreign policy expert, the last a sort of 'fixer'."

"Fixer?" I repeat.

Dooku nods. "If there's a problem like a delayed flight. Or you need to smuggle somebody into a location without anyone knowing. From the little I know of her, she was in charge of Palpatine's Vice presidential process."

"I…don't know anything about that." I confess.

"It was cleaner than any other process like it. Usually it leaks, or somebody sees someone at an airport and tells a reporter. Not with she and Palpatine. It was a complete surprise."

"So she's good."

Hmm.

"In this instance, yes. However, you did spot them."

"Do they know that?" I ask.

"Yes." Dooku nods. "Once you alerted the Council about your suspicions, the Council reached out to the White House with questions. Questions that were roundly ignored and evaded."

But they know.

"Am I allowed to deliver a message to them?" I turn and ask him.

"Yes, but remember that you'll be in their house in just about one month's time."

Spring Break's already just a month away?!

Dooku laughs quietly at what must be my expression. "You should forgive yourself for losing time. You've been quite busy since the unfortunate event down the road."

I know he heard about that.

"Are all of your grades fixed? Master Jarrus said that you know that you failed a quiz, but have been working diligently to fix the error and atone for it."

"Yes." I nod. "I should be getting a clearer picture of my grades in the next week or two. And when I do, I expect the Council will want to meet about that."

Just like last semester.

And that sucked.

"Indeed." Dooku nods once. "Back to the topic at hand. I passed along the full file for you to review at your leisure."

"Thank you." I nod gratefully. "Do you believe any of them to be a threat?"

"To you?" Dooku asks, sounding almost dismissive before laughing. "No no, you could break them like kindling, my young apprentice. They are physically average at best, but with exceptional minds that have been limited by years of education into channeling their focus into singular tasks."

Damn.

"I believe that is why they have kept their distance as much as they have. It would be reasonable for them to be afraid of you."

"Yeah…" I run my hand thru my hair.

I've come close to them a few times, mostly at lunch. They're at a table near the stations, and I have to swing by in order to eat.

Made contact a few times, sent a few casual nods their way. Never the same person twice.

"Do you think they know where I live too?"

Dooku nods. "I believe that they know everything about you. Palpatine has access to every file we have on you, in addition to his minions."

Wonderful.

"I don't know what I did." I groan, rubbing my face with my hands.

"You saved the lives of a great number of innocents. The national media might have sloughed it off as another college shooting, but the event has gained notice."

"Life was much simpler when I was confined to the Temple."

It really was. I didn't have to worry about politics or espionage or any of this.

"A simple life is not for everyone. And you chose this, remember." I groan at Dooku's wisdom, only for him to laugh at my misery. "We can always confine you to the Temple again if we so wish. I don't believe that would be productive however."

That would be terrible.

Dooku turns to glance inside my apartment without a word. "I believe Ms. Wren is stalling. You're preparing dinner I take it?"

"Yes."

I can't really invite him to stay because—

"I believe it would be time for me to make my exit then." Dooku comments sagely. "Reach out if you need me."

"I will." I nod, just before Master Dooku gives me a kindly old smile and starts back down the porch steps.