Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.14.4

She shook her head because technically she hadn't researched it at all. "I just pick things up along the way. Our...'mutual friends', as you put it, haven't forgotten you either."

"Oh, you're observant," Maul credited her, sighing slightly. "Just like her. No wonder she was fond of you."

"If you're referring to Barriss, the feeling isn't mutual," she informed him, clenching her fists. "And while we're on the subject, I don't suppose you'll tell me where she is?"

"Oh, I'll tell you," Maul snarled, "because your question only confirms my beliefs about what happened to her. If the Jedi do not have her, then there is only one place she is."

Ahsoka didn't respond, hoping Maul would continue unprompted. He did, pacing slightly as he spoke. "She was taken, taken from me, by Tyrannus. He abducted my apprentice, and I do not know what horrors she is facing because of me. He is making Barriss suffer to make me suffer."

Sounds familiar, the Sister noted. It fits the bill, it's the exact same thing he did to you.

Why would he, though? Ahsoka wondered. The last time he did that didn't exactly work out well for him. "What makes you think she is still alive? Wouldn't he kill her if he knew it would hurt you that much?"

"Not if he believed I would rescue her," he told her, bringing a fist up as if he had to convince himself of the fact as well as Ahsoka. "Not if he thought he could use her to kill me as well. Once he eliminates both of us, no one will prevent him from taking the throne of the Sith."

Again, he has a point.

She disregarded the Sister. "I'm not here to get involved in the Sith hierarchy," Ahsoka declared. "I am here to bring you to justice."

"Justice is merely the construct of the current power base," Maul lectured to her. "A base, which, if Tyrannus is left alive, is going to change."

"Tyrannus does not have the control that Sideous did," she argued, trusting that he hadn't found a way to sneak into the Senate by now. "With his secret identity exposed, there is no way for anyone to take up Sideous's position in both the Republic and the Separatist Alliance."

Maul shook his head at her, raising his voice. "You think that will stop him? Sideous's legacy lives on, even if he himself is dead! Until that legacy is snuffed out, there can be no assurance that Tyrannus will not complete my master's plan!!! The Jedi and the Republic will fall! When that happens, there will be no justice, no law, no order, except for the one that will replace it!"

She shook her head, choosing to believe in what she had stood with for so long. "They have not fallen yet. As long as they still stand, they can and will fight Tyrannus in his quest for power."

"Did they not tell you how he has hindered their precious Council?" he declared, defying Ahsoka's belief. "The time of the Jedi has long passed. They cannot defeat Tyrannus!" Maul inhaled, calming down a little bit, before telling her, "But, together, you and I can."

Bad idea, bad idea! The Sister warned her, nearly shouting in Ahsoka's ear. If he finds out we're alive, it's not going to end well for us!

Tyrannus can't kill us if we kill him first, Ahsoka argued, just as opposed to working with Maul but trying to be reasonable. If there was a possibility that Tyrannus could be killed, she couldn't ignore it.

The Sister wouldn't have it, though. We did our part, we killed Sideous. Why do we have to be the ones to finish the job? Haven't we done enough? What if we can't kill him?

What if we can? Ahsoka wondered, and Maul saw her thinking deeply.

"No matter what you feel or don't feel for my apprentice, I know you do not want to leave her to Tyrannus's mercy. You know enough about him to know what will happen to her," he said, trying to convince her. "I refuse to abandon Barriss, and despite your history with the Jedi I know you are more compassionate than them." Maul stared at her eyes, almost as if he was trying to drill holes into her. "Every choice you have made has led you to this moment."

He stretched a hand out to her, offering Ahsoka a truce. Even with every suspicion she had about Maul, she knew his offer was genuine. 

She let her gaze drop, knowing his words had hit the Sister hard. Both of them did know what Tyrannus would do to Barriss, they had lived through that particular experience. Scars were still hiding on her back from how he and Sideous had abused the Sister. As much as they despised Maul, both of them knew which of them, between him and Tyrannus, Barriss would be safer with. 

What was that you were thinking earlier about morals and ethics? The Sister muttered, sensing that her argument was about to fail.

I created you so that we could take the hit for the Jedi, Ahsoka reminded her, not wanting to use this card against her but not seeing another choice. So that no one else would have to. 

Barriss deserves it.

She does, but we promised that what happened to us would never happen again. Never. 

An explosion from the fight raging outside got too close to the throne room. The blast shattered the windows, sending glass and sparks flying into the hall. Ahsoka's head started ringing slightly, and she prepared to resign herself to the lesser of the two evils. 

"I will help you," she told Maul quietly, but not moving to accept his hand just yet. "But you must answer one question." There was still something she didn't understand, something she wanted to know.

"You have but to ask," Maul promised her, keeping his arm outstretched. 

"What do you want with Anakin Skywalker?"