A/N: Not beta read, so please excuse any grammatical or spelling errors.

After Ahsoka disables the tracking beacon and sets the autopilot to rendezvous with one of the Rebel Alliance's ships, she makes her way to the back of the craft to check on the scientist. While he doesn't seem to be all gung-ho for the Empire like some of the others she's captured over the years, she can never be too careful, especially with Anakin's life in his hands now.

Entering the small medical center, she finds the previously mentioned scientist carefully checking the medical equipment all around Anakin's pod, religiously recording the results on a small datapad.

Ahsoka just stands in the doorway for a while and watches him, making a note of his behavior in her mind. Even if it turns out that he's someone who worships the Empire like so many others, she doesn't think she'll kill him. No one who values human life as much as this guy does is irredeemable.

"How is he?" she asks finally, startling the other man.

He coughs, shaking off the surprise, then he composes himself, and answers her calmly and professionally. "He's stable," he says. "That's about all I can tell you with the equipment we have on board. If you want to move forward with waking him up, I'll need a lot more machines."

Ahsoka nods in understanding as she figured this would be the case. "I promise you'll get whatever you need as soon as we get where we're going."

The man nods and goes back to checking the machines.

"I owe you an apology," Ahsoka says after another moment, stopping the scientist in his tracks. "I took you away from what was, I'm sure, a very lucrative career for the Empire, and forced you to come with me to wake up my friend. So, for that, I'm sorry."

The scientist remains quiet for a while, then says, "I don't hate Jedi, you know."

Caught off guard by the sudden subject change, Ahsoka just replies with, "What?"

"Jedi," he says. "I don't hate them." He pauses for a moment before continuing. "Judging from the lightsabers and you earlier using the Force, I can tell that you are one, or at least, you used to be one. But when I brought the Jedi up earlier in the temple, you pretty much denied your association to them. Now, I don't know what happened between you and them, and it's none of my business to ask, but I just wanted to let you know that I don't hate them like the Emperor wants us to. In fact… a Jedi saved my life once, about nine years ago."

Ahsoka looks at him, shocked. "A Jedi… saved your life?"

The other man nods. "Yes." Then he gets a faraway look in his eyes, and Ahsoka can tell that he's trying to remember. "It was during the Clone Wars, and I was a young graduate in my very first posting," he starts. "At the time, cloning was pretty much all locked up by the Kaminoan's, so even though I majored in it in school, I had to pick a different field of study once I got out into the real world." He begins to work again as he talks, tapping on the saline drip to make sure it's working.

"I chose immunology," he continues. "Which seemed to be a worthy field of study, a way to help the body fight different diseases all on its own." He smiles as the memories come back to him.

"But I didn't just want to work in a lab all day, stuck behind some testing bench, filling vial after vial with tainted blood. So, I applied to be a traveling immunologist and go out into the galaxy, visiting different planets whose medical technology may not be as advanced as others."

He checks the last machine hooked up to Anakin's pod and closes it up, pressing a couple buttons on the top to hermetically seal it. Then he puts his datapad in the pocket of his lab coat and leans against the wall, crossing his arms.

"It was early on in the war, and I was stationed on Ryloth, trying to help the local scientists there figure out a cure for the infamous Blue Shadow Virus after the outbreak on Naboo, when our lab was broken into."

Ahsoka's memories flare up when he mentions the Blue Shadow Virus, and she can't help but smile a little bit as she thinks about how concerned Anakin was about her and Padme. Looking back, she's surprised that she didn't catch on to the two of them sooner.

"It was a group of battle droids that attacked us," the scientist continues his story, and Ahsoka focuses her attention back on him. "Not the small ones either," he says, "but the tall ones with the big electrostaffs."

"Magnaguards," Ahsoka offers, hearing his description. "I've fought with a few of those during the war, and they're hard to beat, even for a trained Jedi, much less a team of civilian scientists. No offense."

"None taken," he says, smiling briefly. But it fades quickly as he gets to the next part of his story.

"So anyway, all of us were taken to an inner room in the lab, and we were told that once they got what they came for, they would release us. But… something just felt off to me, and I knew that if things stayed the way they were, I was going to die that day."

He pauses for a moment to get his emotions in check, shaking his head as if he's trying to banish some dreadful thought from taking over.

"Anyway," he continues. "Long story short, surprise surprise, the… magnaguards, as you call them, did not release us after they raided the lab. Instead, they began killing the other scientists, one by one. Making their way down to me."

All of a sudden, he smiles as he gets to the next part of the story. "And I would have surely died that day if not for a female blue Twi'lek Jedi by the name of Aayla Secura." Ahsoka smiles fondly at the mention of the Jedi Master.

"She was there working with one of the leaders at the time, a man named Cham Syndulla if I remember correctly, when she heard the commotion going on in the lab, and decided to step inside to see what was going on. Now, at this point in my life, I had never actually seen a Jedi in person before, but I had always heard the stories about them. And of course, as a scientist, the Force is something that has always interested me. So, when I first saw her step into the lab and start swinging her lightsaber around, throwing the magnaguards around with what appeared to be in invisible force, I was in awe." He chuckles. "Here was this laser sword wielding Force user, just like in the legends, and she's here to save me." The smile on his face widens as he recalls the situation.

"So, needless to say, I was a huge fan of the Jedi after that, even when the Emperor announced at the end of the war that the Jedi were all of a sudden evil, and had committed these horrible atrocities. I just never believed it. I couldn't." He shakes his head. "Even if all the Jedi were not as kind and as compassionate as Aayla was, there's still no way that they could have done even half the things the Emperor said they did."

Ahsoka feels warm and fuzzy after she hears his story. Even though she doesn't consider herself to be a Jedi anymore, and she's confident in that decision, it's still nice to hear that there are people out there who still believe in them.

Then a thought strikes her. "You said that you had heard tales about the Jedi when growing up, right?"

The scientist nods, not sure where she is going.

"Did you ever hear of any about the Jedi during the war?"

He gives her a strange look, wondering why she's asking this, but answers her straight away. "Of course," he says. "Everyone in the galaxy heard about the famous 'Hero with No Fear' and 'Negotiator.' You practically couldn't go anywhere without hearing about their incredible feats."

Ahsoka just nods her head in response, and motions towards the stasis pod. "He's the 'Hero with No Fear' that you've heard of. Anakin Skywalker."

The scientist's eyes open wide, and he darts his gaze towards the stasis pod. "H-H-He's the 'Hero with No Fear?" he asks, obviously shocked.

Ahsoka nods. "He is. Now you see why I'm trying to save him."

The scientist just looks at the pod in silence for a moment, and Ahsoka gives him a little time before continuing. "The galaxy needs Anakin Skywalker, doctor," she says, and the scientist turns to look at her. "So, believe me when I say…. we're all counting on you."

He swallows, and nods slowly.

Then, all of a sudden, all of the experiments he did on him while he was still in their custody start to flash through his mind, and he begins to feel very ashamed. "What have I been doing over the past seven years?" he asks himself. "To the most famous Jedi of this era no less."

Blinded by his chance to get to work in cloning again when the Emperor called, he knew that he would have to throw all of his morals out the window if he was ever going to make it in the Empire. So, he feigned ignorance when it came to seeing the cuts and bruises that patient zero – no – Anakin had all over his body after his various trips to Imperial Center.

It was obvious, even then, that someone was torturing him, but, like most Imperial employees, he kept his mouth shut and just focused on his job.

But now that he knows who he's been working on for the last several years, and more importantly, what he's been doing to him, he feels sick to his stomach.

Ahsoka, seeing that the other man is still digesting what she just told him, decides to give him some space to figure things out. So, she makes her way to leave.\

But before she can reach the door, she hears a small voice say, "I'm sorry. Even though I know it's not enough, I just wanted to tell you that. I can tell he means a lot to you."

Ahsoka stops in her tracks when she hears him speak and doesn't say anything for a moment. But then she turns her head slightly and says over her shoulder. "He means more to me than you know."

"He means more to me than even he knows," she thinks immediately after.

There's a pause, then she says. "Get some rest, doc. We still have a ways to go."

Then, without another word, she walks out of the lab and goes straight to her quarters.

As soon as the door to her room closes though, she falls down to her knees, and the events of the day finally start to catch up with her. The shame she feels for having given up on Anakin when he was still alive this whole time burns her to the core, and all she can think about is all the torture he probably had to go through over the past seven years while imprisoned by Sidious.

"I'm sorry, Anakin," she chokes out as she begins to sob. "I'm so, so sorry. I failed you, Master. I failed you."

It's with those thoughts in mind that she cries herself to sleep. Blaming herself for Anakin being locked up for so long.

The next morning, though, she's in a much better mood. With a renewed sense of purpose, and a brand-new fighting spirit. "I won't fail you again, Master," she tells herself. "Not this time."

"Morning, doc," she greets the scientist, finding him in the small mess, drinking a cup of caf. She walks past him to pour herself her own cup.

"Sheel," he replies grumpily, evidently not quite the morning person she is.

"What?" Ahsoka stops what she's doing and looks at him, confused.

"My name is Sheel. Nisan Sheel. Or Dr. Sheel if you prefer."

Ahsoka freezes for a moment, then breaks out in laughter. "Fair enough, doc. Dr. Sheel it is."

He grumbles a little bit at her still calling him 'doc', but lets it go quickly. Figuring that it doesn't really matter in the long run.

"So," she sits down across from him. "What are you plans for after all of this?"

Nisan looks at her curiously for a moment. "I'm not sure," he says slowly. "I haven't really put that much thought into it yet. Why?"

Ahsoka nods as if she was expecting this answer. "Because we're going to be meeting up with one of my friends later today, and I told them that you'd be interested in joining the Rebellion." She takes a sip of her drink to let that statement linger for a bit. "You're not going to make me a liar, are you?"

Nisan rolls his eyes and looks at her. "You say that as if I have a choice."

"You always have a choice," Ahsoka states, seriously.

"And while I'll admit that, yes, I am forcing you to help me with Anakin, I won't force you to work for the Rebellion once it's all done. If, after you've done your part and Anakin is awake, you still want to leave and go back to the Empire, no one will stop you."

"But," she adds quickly. "You should think about what the Empire would do to you should you return. Even though you and I know that you're innocent in all of this, they probably wouldn't trust a single word that came out of your mouth. And I doubt that the Emperor would lose a wink of sleep if they decided to just get rid of you to be on the safe side."

Nisan opens his mouth to defend his, now former, employer, but shuts it again, knowing she's right. The moment he decided to get on this ship, whether by force or not, he knew that he would never be able to return to the Empire ever again.

He sighs, then shows his best 'I'm being forced into this, but I know you're right, so I might as well make the best of it' smile. "I'm at your service, milady."

The Togruta smiles. "Ahsoka," she says, and now it's Nisan's turn to be confused.

"Huh?"

"Just like you, I have a name," she quips. "And it's Ahsoka. Ahsoka Tano."

"Well, Miss Tano. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She smiles. "The pleasure's all mine, doc."

He scowls at her for a second for the repeated use of the moniker 'doc', but then they both break into laughter. "Okay, Okay, fine," he says, rolling his eyes. Then he stands up and drains the rest of his caf. "I'm headed to the medical bay to check on patient zer— er, uh, Anakin. Just give me a call if you need me for anything."

She nods in understanding and watches as he walks to the back of the ship. Then she refills her cup and makes her way to the cockpit. It's almost time to change hyperspace lanes again, so she needs to do all the calculations beforehand.

It's not until several hours later that she hears from the good doctor again, interrupting her saber practice with a loud shout. "Ahsoka! Ahsoka! Miss Tano! Come quickly!"

Sabers still lit, Ahsoka makes her way towards the back of the ship, wondering if there was another Imperial hidden on the ship or something, who just decided to show themselves now, taking poor Dr. Sheel hostage. She also tries to think of other possible scenarios on the way over, but nothing could prepare her for what she actually sees when she runs into the room.

"Miss Tano! Miss Tano! Help me please!" Nisan begs her with wide eyes as he floats in midair, three feet off the ground.

Ahsoka tries and fails to stifle a laugh as she watches the scene play out in front of her, irritating the former Imperial scientist. "What are you laughing at," he protests. "Help me down from here at once."

Still chuckling, Ahsoka deactivates her lightsabers and clips them to her belt. Then she walks across the room and carefully helps Dr. Sheel back down to the ground, leading him out of the med bay, and out of Anakin's apparent range of Force manipulation.

Now, safely away from the chance of unwanted floating, Nisan calms down quite a lot, and Ahsoka tries to explain to him exactly what happened. Though she can tell right away that he's still a little freaked out about everything, even with her assurance that it's very rare.

After all, it's not the first time Ahsoka's seen this kind of behavior happen from Anakin. Though it was mostly during the war, and they were sharing a room at the time. Nightmares seem to be the triggering cause in those episodes.

Obi-Wan also told her about Anakin's first few years in the temple, when he couldn't control his powers all the way. As powerful as he is, it caused a great raucous and led to many accidents.

Regardless of how it happened though, she knows that it's a good sign, as it means that Anakin can still access the Force, even when unconscious. She was a little worried about that to be honest. Especially after seeing him cut off from the Force for so long in that Force null room.

"I'm going to have to find a pair of kriffing gravity boots, just to be able to work on him," Nisan grumbles, still a bit shaken up. Though Ahsoka can see that he's in much better shape than he was just a few minutes ago.

"Don't be so overdramatic, doc," she says, cheerily. "Tons of people have wondered what it would be like to fly. You just got to experience it for free!"

Nisan just shakes his head and makes his way back to the med bay. Though a small smile can be seen on his lips as he enters.