Saturdays were wonderful for the clerks of Gauges and Gears, for one reason only: No customers allowed. 

It wasn't that they didn't like talking to people, but retail was just exhausting sometimes. On the weekends, all they had to deal with was stuff behind the counter, not people on the other side. Sure, they had to do inventory, and maintenance, and reports, and anything else Fuller needed to be done that weekend, but at least their biggest problems were things instead of people. 

That was the way it was supposed to be anyway, which was why Jackson was very surprised to see three people standing outside the locked front door when he passed by the front counter. He was carrying a box to a closet across the way, but he had frozen when he saw the shop had visitors. They were wearing cloaks and helmets, which was a weird combo in his opinion. Fuller told his staff not to answer the door on weekends unless they had an appointment of some kind, so Jackson didn't feel inclined to help them, but it was still startling.

Then one of them, probably a leader of some sort, turned and saw Jackson standing there like an idiot. He panicked and ran out of the room with the box, heading straight for Fuller's office. He didn't know what those people were doing here, but he wasn't sure he wanted to find out. "Boss, there's some shifty folks at the door."

Fuller, who was chewing on some jerky at the moment, rolled his eyes and opened the security cameras from his computer. He was half surprised when he saw that it was true, and he had half a mind to call Tano from the workshop to come to deal with them. One of them finally found the button on the front door, and Fuller's recorded message started playing. The visitors opted to leave a message, which quickly found it's way to Fuller's inbox. 

Leslie and Rya had just finished restocking the garage and were passing by when they saw Jackson standing in the doorway. "Something wrong?" Rya asked, poking her head in the office. 

"Probably," Jackson muttered under his breath while Fuller opened the recording and played it. It was about as unnerving as the person who left it. 

"I'm looking for Ahsoka Tano, I understand that she works here. I'd like to speak with her for a few minutes," a female voice announced before the recording ended. Fuller checked the cameras again, and sure enough, the woman and her two friends were waiting patiently outside the door for Tano. 

When in doubt, let Tano deal with it. That had become their motto over the past few months, and it was certainly being invoked right now. Leslie ran towards the workshop and darted down the spiral staircase to the ground, not wanting to risk another break-in as they had so long ago. She still wasn't over that particular event, and she didn't want it to happen again. 

The mechanics noticed her frantic behavior and stopped what they were doing. Wheeler, who was working on a speeder in the center of the workshop with Trace, stood up and stopped her in her tracks, trying to get her to calm down. She had known Leslie long enough to know that something was seriously scaring her. "Tano! Get down here!" she called out, hoping she had a moment to pause what she was working on. She was the best person for panic attacks and stuff like that. 

In truth, Ahsoka hadn't been working on anything. She had been having these weird stomach pains for a couple of weeks now, and she had taken a break to get some water and fight down the ache. When Wheeler called for her, she was on her feet in a second and she jumped off the upper level of the workspaces down to the floor and rushed over. Trace was a little startled when she made the ten-foot jump easily and gracefully, but Ahsoka didn't see her face so she didn't notice. 

She was more focused on Leslie. Grabbing Ahsoka's arm, she managed to shudder out the message. "Someone's here for you. They're at the front door."

"Oh, now what?" she groaned, almost sure she was going to regret this. "Did they say who they were?" 

Leslie shook her head, and Wheeler wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. "I got her, Tano, you go deal with that." Ahsoka nodded and left Leslie in the Pantorian's arms, not bothering to take the stairs up. Instead, she made the jump herself and left the other mechanics in the workshop to wonder what kind of trouble she was about to get into this time. 

Ahsoka stopped by the staff room before bothering to check in with her boss, grabbing her blaster and her lightsabers from her locker. If someone was here for her specifically, chances were they didn't just want to chat. Not to mention, her last few visitors had been a Separatist Changling and Barriss Offee. There was a trend beginning to form here, and the trend wasn't a good one.

Fuller found her hooking her lightsabers to her belt as she walked out of the staff room. "Just tell me these people aren't going to try and kill us."

"I don't even know who these people are yet, how am I supposed to know?" she asked, tucking her blaster in its holster. "Just keep the others out of the lobby, I'll see what's going on."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, saluting and walking. Ahsoka debated whether it was worth it to tell her employer not to salute her or not, and decided it wasn't. She walked calmly out front, expecting the worst.

What actually greeted her were three Mandalorians, trying to be inconspicuous and failing. She nearly rolled her eyes as she walked from behind the front counter and unlocked the door, choosing to hold their conversation outside rather than inside the lobby. She had destroyed it before, and she didn't really want to be lectured about it again.

"Making friends?" A familiar voice asked, a voice that put Ahsoka on edge. Then again, any Mandalorian could do that. Ahsoka stared at her unwavering, having recalled the speaker's identity. 

She must have caught the look in her eye. "So you remember me," she noted, and when she took off her helmet, it indeed was Lady Bo-Katan Kryze who addressed her. "Don't worry, Deathwatch is gone, and now, you and I have common enemies."

Activating a projection, Bo-Katan showed Ahsoka exactly who those common enemies were, although Ahsoka could have guessed. "Maul and Barriss," she named, looking from the hologram to the Mandalorian. 

Nodding, she deactivated the projection. "I need your help. Once we are underway, I will explain everything." Putting her helmet back on, she walked away towards a ship docked at the landing platform not far from where they stood. "You have five minutes to decide."

Five minutes to decide whether to go save the world or not, again, the Sister noted sarcastically. Why does that sound familiar?

Are you surprised? Ahsoka asked, crossing her arms and staring off into space. Hopefully, it would look like she was thinking and not talking to herself. It's not like this is the first time someone has asked for help.

At least they actually asked this time, instead of giving us an order, she conceded, and Ahsoka walked back into the lobby. 

Despite her instruction for everyone to keep their distance, the entire staff was waiting for an update in the hallway leading to the back of the store. Rya crossed her arms. "You're leaving again, aren't you?"

Trace, the rookie, didn't understand. "Wait, leaving? Leaving where?"

"Oh, who knows?" Luce shrugged, leaning up against the wall. "Tano's always running off to go beat someone up. Ex-Jedi and all of that."

"We grabbed your bag," called Journey, passing up to the front of the group. "Figured you wouldn't be staying long after that."

She smiled and accepted it, slinging it over her shoulders. "I'm getting predictable," she joked, much to the amusement of the others. "I don't know how long I'll be gone this time, but something tells me I won't be back by Monday," Ahsoka told her boss, who was not at all surprised. Quietly, to herself, she added, "In fact, I'm afraid where this path might lead me."

Fuller didn't seem too worried though. "If you're talking about the Jedi, I'm pretty sure you'll be just fine. Just go save the world, or whatever else your friends are up to."

"Good luck," Thylla bid her, and a chorus of the same phrase rang out from her coworkers. Ahsoka nodded and waved goodbye before running out the door, wondering what she just got herself into. 

When she boarded the ship, Bo-Katan's accomplices were already in the cockpit, preparing the engine. Bo-Katan signaled them when Ahsoka climbed the ramp, and seconds later, the Mandalorian ship ascended the shaft, off to who knows where. Probably Mandalore eventually, but Ahsoka had a feeling she wasn't the only detour Bo-Katan planned to make. 

"Why me?" she asked, setting her bag down on one of the seats in the back. "You and I don't exactly have a friendly history."

"No," Bo-Katan agreed, "but from what our spies have reported, you and Lady Offee do. That's how I found you in the first place. My spies found a paper with your address lying around her quarters."

Ahsoka raised an eyemark. That was a new one. "Lady Offee? Is that what they're calling her now? Barriss isn't even Mandalorian."

While it was entirely true, it amused Lady Kryze. "Neither is Maul, but much of Mandalore still refers to him as a Lord."

Oh, great, the Sister groaned, but Ahsoka hushed her. "Even so, my friendly history with Barriss is long gone. I don't know what you're expecting from me, but I doubt Barriss will listen to me if that's your plan."

"The time for negotiations is over, my sister proved that much," Bo-Katan told her, her voice dropping slightly at the mention of Satine. "I need your experience more than anything. Here, you won't be able to fight in those clothes." She tossed a spare set of armor to Ahsoka, along with a few clothing pieces to match.

"I understand," Ahsoka told her, accepting the gift, "and I'm willing to help, but you know as well as I do that one extra fighter won't make enough of a difference. Not enough to do what you want." 

"I don't exactly have many options, Ahsoka," she argued, even though she was right. "It took a lot of convincing even to find allies on Mandalore, and we don't have time to explain the situation to anyone who might help us elsewhere."

Ahsoka glanced down at the lightsabers on her belt. "You're right. We need to reach out to someone who already knows."

Bo-Katan scoffed. "Kenobi? You think the Jedi Council will let him do anything?"

"I think there's a chance, and if not, I know someone else who won't care."

Author's Note: These next few chapters may look very familiar to some of you. I recommend that you track the alterations I will make here, but other than that, this is your official excuse to go rewatch the last few episodes of the Clone Wars Season 7. I won't rewrite the scenes that are exactly the same just because I can't do the visuals justice, and I'm pretty sure we'd all rather just witness the glory of Dave Filoni again anyways. Remember, if I skip a scene, then it's exactly the same as it is in the Disney+ show. :)