a/n: so the only reason this references a specific clone wars episode is for placing (and very general placing at that), but 7: 9, 7:10.
Ahsoka watched the patrol go by from her rickety vantage point atop the crates and boxes. She been switching hiding spots every few hours, but there was only so far that she was willing to go. She didn't know how many functional space craft there were outside the city, how easy they'd be to find. If she didn't get off-world within the next two days, she would risk it. Risk running past all her friends turned enemies, each checkpoint a reminder that she was alone.
Crescendoing clanks. Familiar muffled voices. Fading clanks. Silence.
She vaulted to the next pile, then the next, moving to the edge of the building. It was time to get out of here.
The door to the outside had a small window. Scrambling down, Ahsoka took advantage of that to make sure the area was clear. The clones were still regular on their routes, still good soldiers. Unchanged.
She peeked through, thankful for the minimal lighting in the warehouse so people wouldn't see a horned shadow peering out. Outside a merchant scurried past, datapads clutched tightly against their chest. She ducked down, with the extra inches for her montrals, then snuck up again. There was a group of people that the merchant must have walked away from, a couple clone troopers and someone in a cloak. The cloaked figure turned and stiffened. Ahsoka dropped.
When she peered up again, one clone was nodding, and motioned the other to follow him. They were far enough Ahsoka couldn't see the identifying marks on their helmets. Faceless troopers, headed to a different sector.
Then the last figure started heading her way, nonchalant but definitely her way.
"Kark." She stumbled back. A box toppled, she snatched it before it hit the ground, and before she could hide the door opened.
"Ahsoka?"
"Lars?" she whispered, and looked up into his face. He'd put down the hood, halted a few steps away from her. What was he doing here with those troopers? What was he doing here, period?
They stared at each other. Ahsoka at least was unsure what to do, what was expected. She was right about him being evil. Right? This was the moment she'd been waiting for, just more personal than she'd expected.
"You're alive."
Ahsoka relaxed, montral to toe, a knot in her mind unraveling with the sudden revelation. The wonder in his voice, guarded as it was, was undeniable-if she was going to die, it wouldn't be because of him.
"Yes. It'd take..." more than clones shooting at her? More than being unable to warn the other Jedi? She should have known, from that holovid, that this was coming. She couldn't bring herself to make a quip, so she ended with, "Yeah."
"How? Nevermind." His blue eyes narrowed in thought. "You're stuck."
"Yeah." She cleared her throat, dust whirling in the air from the box she'd disturbed and was still holding. It was a small box, now with hand prints on its gritty exterior. She put it down. Rubbed her palms, gave up and wiped them on her leggings. "Yeah, I'm stuck."
"Okay." He ran a hand through his hair, once, twice. "Okay."
He paced, a little left, a little right. "Do you have a ship?"
"I'm not sure." She started to lean against the boxes, then thought better of it. Opted for sitting on one instead. "I had a fighter, but it's docked with all the others. On the ship."
"And it wouldn't have hyperdrive capability," Lars added. He stilled, but she was looking at the ground. For the first time since it had happened, she had a moment to think about what had happened, but now she felt exhausted, unable to think. She rubbed her temple. "Alright. Come on, Snips."
She looked up lethargically to him holding out his cloak, a soft smile on his face. "We're getting you out of here."