"Hey it's me, meet me up at the diner in five we need to talk"
Five minutes later she was at her favorite diner and table waiting for her friend who came in at exactly the right time
"So what's up?"
"Remember that little side job we met at shortly before I joined Starfleet?"
"You mean when you were about to head home and got captured by pirates and the only thing that saved you was the fact that I had stolen your lightsaber?"
"That one, remember you training me as a bounty hunter?"
"Hey I only did that as part of my job what are you asking for?"
"I'm calling in that bounty favor you presented to me after we escaped"
"Now wait a minute, a Jedi can't just go wondering around pretending to be a bounty hunter, and yes I know Obi-Wan Kenobi did that during the Clone Wars but that was an undercover assignment and he was pretending to be an already established bounty hunter to save 'Chancellor' Palpatine's life before he was busted as the Emperor he ruled as for the next twenty or so years"
"I know that but look while meeting the Council I had a vision of me going into deep hiding after an explosion a month ago and earlier today I found out that there's a bounty on my head, I'm going to have to fake my death but good and then go into hiding to keep myself alive and the best way to do that is to be a bounty hunter even though even they aren't all that safe, but at least the law will try to capture me instead of outright death unlike the other hunters"
(Sighs) "I don't like it but I will start the preparations for the favor that I do owe you, but you'd better come out of this mess alive am I understood?"
"Perfectly, and don't worry most likely when I feel the right opportunity I will allow myself to be arrested so that I can be known as alive again, you'll know when that happens trust me"
They both leave after paying for what they ordered and a few days later while she was with another Jedi team Ashland knew it was time to implement her plan because she was being targeted by a sniper. She would chase the person for a good bit and then the explosion happened and she timed it just right so that she put on her Force inhibitor at the same time as the explosion so that the Jedi would also believe her death, though there was one glitch in the plan which was that she was knocked over the side of the building (which fortunately didn't have anyone in the alley) and was forced to quickly grab onto a beam to prevent serious injury to herself. Once that was done she quickly got herself onto the ground and to her safe house where she could change into her bounty identity. Meanwhile the Jedi team she had been with went to where the explosion had occurred with both of them knowing that it involved Ashland somehow, sadly another thing Ashland couldn't count on was the Padawan finding her "remains" before her Master did
"Master, I think I found Sentinel Portland"
The Master came over and saw the burned remains of Ashland and he knew that she had died pretty fast due to her injuries and just how close she had been to the explosion
"Come Padawan, let us take her remains to the temple, where we can inform the Federation and give her a funeral of the Jedi"
"Yes Master, I am right behind you"
The two leave and report Ashland's death to the Jedi Council and the Federation, though Admiral Janeway did have to ask for confirmation
"Are you sure? I mean, she's been thought dead a few times now and every time we were wrong"
"She's dead Admiral, we felt her pass into the Force and she was too close to the explosion to survive"
"But she has the Force inhibitor on her at all times, that might be why you can't feel her"
"No Admiral, the Force inhibitor feels different we know that because we have asked her to put on the Force inhibitor in front of us and it feels different from a death, First Junior Sentinel Portland is dead"
"Very well I will inform her Captain then, you can take care of the details of her funeral since she did not leave any instructions regarding that"
"Understood Admiral"
So they give her a Jedi funeral, one which Ashland actually was able to watch because of her sneaking skills. After that Ashland took up bounty hunting and started off small because she knew that she would be picked up too quickly otherwise, so she worked smart and decided to work up the ranks in bounty hunting so that when she was ready she could reveal herself by botching up the mission. While that was happening eventually the Starfleet members left behind by Picard were picked up and allowed to go home while another team of Starfleet officers took over protecting the Representative's alongside the Jedi which was to be expected, but they noticed that the Jedi teams took their protectiveness to a new level not seen before. They didn't know that every Jedi vowed at Ashland's "funeral" to protect the Federation Representative's in Ashland's name, honoring her sacrifice the only way they could
"We will always do our best to keep you and the rest of the Representative's the Federation sends us safe, that is a promise, by the way thanks to that no good bounty hunter we might have a lead on the most recent threat to your safety, though it cost us one of our own"
"She did what she felt she had to do, you know that as do I, as a Betazed I can read minds and feel peoples emotions which here can be a bit overwhelming even with me being in full control. I felt her passing like you did and her last thoughts were that everyone else was safe for the moment and she was glad for that, and don't make a promise on Ashland's name she wouldn't want that"
"We know, but we feel it's the best way to honor her sacrifice"
"I understand and won't tell anyone else why you are so overprotective of us Representative's"
"Thank you"
Over the next two years the Jedi became very good at protecting the Representative's though they had yet to catch the culprits of the most recent threat. Meanwhile Ashland worked her way through the ranks of bounty hunting and was doing pretty good, but she knew that the time to reveal herself was coming though she wasn't quite sure when, but first she had to take care of another criminal wanted by Coruscant alive and they were offering a bounty on them so she was one of several who took up the challenge to catch him, and was currently a little stuck along with two other hunters who decided to team up with her because of just how dangerous this criminal was reported to be
"This was so not part of the plan"
"No kidding Sandra so how are we going to get out of this fine mess we've gotten ourselves into?"
"Not sure, Klomek you have any ideas?"
She hears a response in Huttese
*Not this time I don't, our target is smart*
"Mind translating that Sandra?"
"Sure Deke he says he doesn't have a clue, we have a smart target...for once"
"Great so we're just stuck here until someone finds us"
"Relax, I'll get us out because now that I've fully seen our surroundings I have an idea that just might work but you'll need to trust me"
"What's the plan?"
"Simple I'm going to shoot the lock, but first I need that pipe over there so that I can bend it to the right angle to make my plan work, and let's face it it might not so we're going to have to be careful and patient and think of a back up plan"
"Well why don't we try my blades first then because this steel has to be rusty"
"Fine we'll try your way first, why didn't you speak up before?"
"I wasn't paying attention to our surroundings either"
"That would do it"
Fortunately the blades did break the steel and they managed to eventually catch up to their target and all three of them working together captured him and brought him to the prison. A few days later would be when Ashland knew it was time to return because she was hired to kill a Senator which is something she just couldn't do. In her temporary apartment
"Well I never thought I would be returning home so soon but the time is right, it's been two years and the person who tried to kill me is dead themselves"
She grabs her right wrist which is where her Force inhibitor was due to her choice to have it on that wrist whenever possible
"I'm coming home guys, soon I'm coming home"
She prepares for her mission and a few days later when the Senator was giving a speech she aimed at the shoulder and fired, hitting the Senator but she was discovered pretty quickly and arrested
"I should have known better than to try and go above my league seeing as how I'm still new to bounty hunting, I won't fight but you can't take off the bracelet it's locked on and only I know the correct sequence to take it off"
"Fine we'll take you to prison for now"
"Fine, and by the way I want to talk to someone from the Jedi Council and Starfleet at some point"
"That can certainly be arranged"
A few hours later a Jedi Council member and two Starfleet Officers were in the interrogation room
"I heard you wanted to talk to us, why?"
"First off I need your word that you won't do anything rash in regards to my request"
"Fine what is it?"
"I need the use of my hands so that I can take something off, something that is hiding a huge part of me that I don't want to hide any longer"
"Very well but we'll be watching you carefully"
So she's given use of her hands and then goes for her right wrist, which makes the senior Starfleet Officer grab her wrist and demand an explanation
"Hey how did you get a Starfleet Force inhibitor?"
"Just a minute and you'll find out"
She frees her wrist from the grab and punches in the correct code to take off the Force inhibitor and the Jedi Council member gasps in shock at what he feels
"It can't be, I haven't felt this signature for two years, you can't be her"
"Oh but I am, First Junior Sentinel Portland at your service"
"You died in an explosion Portland, how do I know it's the real you?"
"Do a test on me that'll be the proof you need"
"Fine but until then you are staying in a cell"
"Fine I figured as much, though you can't deny my Force signature for very long"
"Forget the cell I have a means of testing her now"
The Starfleet Officer brings out a device that was new to Ashland but not to anyone else because of the fact that it had only been in use for one year but was already proving very effective and confirms her identity even though it was a little confusing at first seeing as how it had been discovered that retinal scans while not being able to be tricked also weren't exactly fool proof so instead they created a device that tested the blood samples of the person and no one could tamper with those devices so if the Dominion ever tried anything again no one could fake another person being a Founder
"It's her alright"
"Told you, by the way how's the Senator?"
"He's fine, a clean through and through, almost a flesh wound though"
"Darn I was hoping it would only be a flesh wound, I was aiming for the shoulder deliberately but was hoping that I wouldn't hit the main part of the shoulder, oh well at least since it was me that Senator is still alive instead of dead like the contractor wanted"
"True enough and I'm sure he'll understand your reasons once you meet him yourself after we vouch for you"
"Then let's get out of here, um but first I actually need to be dropped off some where's"
"What for?"
"I need my uniform, what I'm wearing is my bounty hunter outfit, my real outfit is where I was staying temporarily whenever I was on Coruscant waiting for the time I could return home"
"Okay tell us the address and we'll wait for you while you change"
"Works for me, oh wait you have to tell the guards that I'm free"
"Already taken care of, don't worry we have ways of explaining things without Force suggestions"
Fortunately they listened even though it did take some convincing and fifteen minutes later they were at Ashland's hideout where it only took her five minutes to ditch the bounty hunter outfit and put on her proper uniform