Chapter Text
Obi-Wan hit the ground hard. The world shook viciously for a few moments, and the hallway crumbled behind him. He felt faint, and his ears were ringing, and he couldn’t tell if he was dizzy or not.
Then it stopped.
It took a few moments for the ringing in his ears to subside. Maybe Kix had a point about wearing a helmet during battles.
There was a ceiling tile hanging by an electrical wire above him. That couldn’t be safe.
“General! General Kenobi!”
He heard it muffled through the rubble, and clearly through the comm on his wrist.
It took a few moments to realize that it was his name. That someone was trying to communicate with him.
“I-I’m okay,” Obi-Wan said, voice breaking a bit. He coughed, trying to get the plaster dust out of his lungs. “Everyone else?”
“We’re fine, sir,” Cody said. “A bit shaken, but not hurt. Stay there until we get to you.”
“No way,” Obi-Wan said, forcing himself to get up. Everything hurt, but nothing seemed broken. He held back a hiss as he stood and a sharp pain went through his side, then continued with, “We should both work on finding a way to each other. Sitting still is going make it really easy for the Seps to find us.”
“Sir—”
“Don’t worry about me, Cody. Keep Anakin safe, I’ll find you soon enough.”
Obi-Wan started walking, picking up his lightsaber as he went.
“ Don’t worry about me, Cody. Keep Anakin safe, I’ll find you soon enough. ”
Jesse was honest; that was the last thing he’d expected to hear over the short-ranges.
“Shit,” Hardcase hissed. “I think we just blew up the Generals .”
“Well, it’s good they survived,” Jesse said. “If they’d survived the crash-landing only to be killed by us, we’d never hear the end of it.”
Hardcase snorted.
Then, Jesse realized something. “‘Case, they said Anakin.”
“Yeah?” Hardcase asked. Then, “ Shit . The kid’s here.”
“We have to find them,” Jesse said, making the decision. “They’re gonna get themselves killed.”
“We have to find him,” Cody said. “He’s going to get himself killed.”
Time was of the essence now; every droid in the building was going to be making its way towards the explosion, to either fix the damage or kill the ones responsible.
“ You know, I lived a great many years not getting myself killed ,” Obi-Wan said dryly. “ I do actually know how to handle myself. ”
Waxer snorted.
Then, he drew and fired as they passed the next hallway, diving for cover on the other side.
Everyone flattened themselves against the wall.
"Surrender now," a B2 droid called out. "This is your only opportunity."
Cody and Waxer met eyes.
Cody nodded.
They shot out from cover, firing, firing, firing, and then pulled back around the corner as the droids started firing back.
"Very well," the B2 said. "You will die now."
A hail of blasterfire rained down, and Cody flattened himself against the wall, away from the corner, trying to figure out the next move.
" How considerate of you to finally show up, " a voice rang quietly over the comm.
" Master ," Obi-Wan replied politely, voice perfectly clear.
Kriff .
"General Kenobi, don't you fucking dare ," Cody said.
They had to get to him. They had to find him now.
Obi-Wan heard droids approaching, and quickly slid into a side room.
As the door clicked shut, he heard someone clear their throat behind him.
He whirled around, lightsaber activated, and spotted—
Dooku .
"How considerate of you to finally show up," Master Dooku said dryly.
Obi-Wan awkwardly put his lightsaber away, and gave a shallow bow. "Master."
" General Kenobi don't you fucking dare ," Cody said over the comms.
"You’re missing someone," Master Dooku said. "Where is young Skywalker?"
"I didn't think it would be wise to bring him into an active war zone," Obi-Wan said. Technically, it wasn't a lie.
"Then you show more wisdom than he will as an adult," Dooku said.
Obi-Wan smiled politely. "Speaking of being an adult," he said.
Dooku made a sweeping gesture to a large black rock on the desk in the room. "Of course," he said. “As I said, it’s a very simple ritual to turn you back to your normal age.”
"I don’t suppose you’d be willing to explain said ritual, now that I’m here in person?” Obi-Wan asked.
“All you have to do is touch the stone, and focus on your attachment,” Dooku said.
Obi-Wan frowned. “...What do you mean?” he asked.
“Attachment,” Dooku said, “or as the Jedi call it, love .”
“But that’s…not the same thing,” Obi-Wan said hesitantly.
“Are you so certain of that?” Dooku said, starting to circle Obi-Wan like an overgrown vulture. “As I see it, there seems to be quite a misunderstanding between the Jedi of today and the studies of the Force.”
“But—”
“Go on, Obi-Wan,” Dooku said. “This war needs the adult version of you, doesn’t it? Not a padawan with a shaky understanding of basic Jedi tenets.”
Dooku gripped Obi-Wan’s shoulders.
“Focus on something you love ,” Dooku said. “Something you’re attached to. Something that you know you’ll still be attached to even in ten years.”
“And then touch the stone?” Obi-Wan asked.
“ General, don’t touch shit—”
“Be sure of your focus first,” Dooku said. “And then yes. Place your hand upon the Stone.”
Obi-Wan tried to sense if Dooku was telling the truth.
Dooku’s shields were as solid as beskar, and the Force was still barely present. He couldn’t be sure.
“Okay,” Obi-Wan said. He’d have to trust his instincts instead.
He stepped forward, and Dooku let him go.
Obi-Wan spun. “If that’s all, then I think you should let me take the artifact back to my ship. Anakin’s waiting, you know. He needs to become an adult, too.”
Dooku, who was now standing between him and the door, lit his lightsaber.
“Obi-Wan,” Dooku said, very calmly. “I do not tolerate foolishness.”
Obi-Wan lit his own lightsaber. “And I don’t like being manipulated into things.”
Dooku sighed, and twirled his lightsaber. “You are ever so stubborn.”
Obi-Wan dropped into a ready stance. So did his Grandmaster.
Cody cursed.
“Get to him, Commander!” Waxer said. “The boys and I will handle the tinnies, go save our General!”
Cody glanced at Boil and Bones.
Both gave him a serious nod.
Then, without words, both Bones and Waxer jumped out into the fray, providing a distraction as Cody sprinted.
He had to get to the General.
He had to save him.
“ You are such a stubborn child! ”
“I heard it runs in the lineage! ”
“ General, stop trying to get killed! ”
“ You ought to listen to your Commander, youngling .”
“ We can’t maintain position! ”
“ Go for the stairs! ”
Jesse heard a shriek over the comms, one that was much younger, and much higher, than any clone’s.
“You heard them, ‘Case,” he said determinedly. “We get to the stairs, we back them up.”
Hardcase nodded, all seriousness. They wouldn’t let their fellows die.
“Go for the stairs!” Waxer yelled, and all of them broke into a total retreat.
Behind them, droids were swarming, far outnumbering the clones.
They didn’t make it to the stairs.
Waxer dove behind a large piece of rubble. Bones sequestered himself behind a thick durasteel cabinet.
Anakin shrieked as a bolt came his way, holding up his blaster like it was a lightsaber in a panic response.
And Boil jumped in front of him.
Dooku clicked his tongue disapprovingly, slamming Obi-Wan into the wall. "Ten years as Qui-Gon’s padawan, and I have yet to see proof that you've learned a single thing," he said.
Perhaps trying to fight a grandmaster and a Sith Lord when Force-exhausted had been a really stupid idea, but he was sort of running out of options.
“Considering that you never bothered to meet me in the first place, I don’t see how you could tell either way,” Obi-Wan said, struggling against the Force grip.
Dooku summoned Obi-Wan’s lightsaber from where it had fallen to the floor.
“You are no match for me like this,” Dooku said. “I am no untested Zabrak apprentice. If you’re so committed to fighting, then I insist that you take a moment to return to your proper age and give me a proper fight.”
“ Don’t you dare, sir! ”
Jesse and Hardcase found the remaining Ghosts.
They just happened to be on the wrong side of the droids.
They looked at each other, and didn’t even have to say anything, falling behind a piece of cover, and shooting any droid they could. Drawing the fight away from the others as much as possible.
Now the droids were the ones boxed in.
Then, the droids started noticing them, and firing back.
Jesse didn’t think, he fought.
“ I tire of dealing with your foolishness, Obi-Wan ,” Cody overheard. “ You will complete the ritual, and you will do so now. ”
“ No, I think not ,” Obi-Wan said.
“ You will,” Dooku said. “Or I will kill your Commander the moment he shows up. ”
Cody stopped running.
“He won’t come ,” Obi-Wan said.
“ He will, ” Dooku said, and Cody heard the unmistakable sound of rollies inbound. “ Because if he tries anything foolish, I will kill you. And if that’s not enough of an incentive, if either of you misbehave, I am going to track down every last clone in this building, and kill them slowly and painfully in front of the both of you.”
Two droidekas rolled in from either side of the hallway, popping up to surround Cody.
Slowly, he put his blaster in its holster and raised his hands.
“Don’t do it, General,” Cody said.
“Come with us,” one of the droidekas said tonelessly. “You will be brought to Count Dooku.”
Obi-Wan stood in front of the Sith Artifact, mind racing.
Attachment. Love. Not the same thing. Or were they? To a Sith? It was a Sith Artifact, did it go by Sith standards, or Jedi? Did it matter?
He didn’t want to touch it. The longer he stood here, the less he wanted anything to do with it.
But Cody’s life depended on it. Waxer, and Boil, and Bones, their lives depended on him.
Anakin’s too, once Dooku found out he was here.
It was clearly a trap, Obi-Wan just didn’t know how. He had Cody yelling in his ear, telling him not to do anything Dooku told him to.
But he was Qui-Gon’s Padawan first and foremost. Qui-Gon had taught him through many missions about how to handle traps. And in Obi-Wan’s experience, there were two main ways to deal with traps. The first and most desirable way to do it was to avoid the trap in the first place. But if you have already stepped into the trap, and you couldn’t avoid it? That was when you had to use the other option.
You spring the trap.
The door behind him slid open.
Obi-Wan touched the stone.
"General, no! "