Chapter Text
“The way I see it, we have two options,” Rex said. “Lure Vader and Cody to us and hope we can handle however many Imps they bring with them,” clearly not his preferred option, “or, we take them by surprise and show up where they are already going.”
The cramped cockpit of Rex’s ship reminded Obi-Wan of his own living arrangements on Tatooine, less dusty but just as impermanent. Easy to pick up and move at the hint of danger.
“How would we know where they’re planning to go next?” Obi-Wan asked. Falling back into the rhythm of battle planning was its own sort of homecoming.
“The Empire has a military precision to its bloodshed,” Rex glowered. “If you know what patterns to look for, you’ll know which planet they’re planning to target next.”
During the war, when preventing bloodshed had been their primary goal, Obi-Wan relied on Cody’s infallible strategic mind to lead the deployment of their troopers and supporting elements. Now, it seemed Vader was using the same skillset for violence. The wrongness of it made Obi-Wan’s hand tremble.
“And you think they would both be there?”
“Vader rarely misses an opportunity for violence these days. And if he’s there, the intel says Cody will be there.” Rex shifted to glare into the endlessness of space. “And this next opportunity,” he glanced at Obi-Wan, “happens to be on Yerbana.”
Oh. Anakin had certainly been upset the last time they visited Yerbana.
After the 501st had appeared, after Anakin had sauntered in, after a missile had nearly shattered Obi-Wan’s only peace, they were all called back to the cruiser for an urgent message before Obi-Wan ever had a moment to center himself. The intensity of the war had been building like a tidal wave, the crest threatening to take everything and everyone with it.
Obi-Wan hurried off the LAAT in the hangar, heading towards the bridge and clutching Cody at his side. This wasn’t their cruiser, but he still knew every nook and cranny and discreet doorway. His heart was in his throat and his mind was still on Yerbana when he picked the next obscure hallway with a secluded bulkhead to push Cody into and up against a wall.
Just one minute, he would give himself one minute to settle his fears and anxieties. He cupped his hands on either side of Cody’s face and Cody’s arms snaked around him. They had long since passed having to exchange words to know what the other was feeling, what the other needed. Obi-Wan drew Cody into a kiss and his mind cleared as their lips captivated each other. Cody was his best meditation.
The war demanded they didn’t linger, and so they came up for air after a few moments, still holding each other close, heads together.
Anakin’s “Obi-Wan—” overlapped with Rex’s “Sir, I wouldn’t—”
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, but didn’t move, didn’t want to move, he needed every second he could steal to sink into Cody and rebalance himself before whatever came next.
And what came next was an icy grip on his synapses, Anakin’s spike of rage palpable in the Force. He focused instead on the warmth from Cody’s hand flat and firm at the small of his back.
“Master,” Anakin said through gritted teeth, the Force thawing but his tone remaining frosty. “We are expected on the bridge.”
Obi-Wan sighed and opened his eyes, finding Cody’s already waiting for him. The war had been so long, had taken so much, but it had given him this. Cody pressed his forehead into Obi-Wan’s and used his hands to nudge them off the wall and back into action.
“Of course, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, ignoring the daggers the man’s eyes were shooting his way. “Let’s not keep the admiral waiting any longer.”
“And let’s not let our emotions cloud our thinking, Master Jedi,” Anakin spat back. “Someone I thought I knew told me that more than once.”
“Not now, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said. It wasn’t the first cut Anakin had taken and it wouldn’t be the last.
What if he hadn’t assumed his own tacit understanding of Anakin and Padme had been reciprocated? What if—but Obi-Wan drew himself out of the past before it could swallow him in what ifs.
“Yes, between Ahsoka leaving and, well you were there, I think upset might be an understatement,” Obi-Wan said, guilt gnawing at the base of his skull. He exhaled, trying to let go. As much as he knew he wasn’t responsible for Anakin’s reactions, it would take longer to truly accept. He couldn’t help but shoulder the blame. “Not without reason, I suppose.”
“What, because of Padme?”
“Oh, you knew about that, too? Well, I’m sure he imagined the circumstances were entirely the same, but I’d have argued differently, given the chance.”
For many reasons, the first of which Obi-Wan would have argued was that neither he nor Cody ever put each other ahead of their duty to the Republic. Not that it would have consoled Anakin. In the end, he imagined it was the sin of omission that had riled Anakin, just one more offense he would add to his pile of grievances.
“You and Cody weren’t exactly what I would call subtle before Yerbana,” Rex said, offering a welcome attempt to lighten the mood.
“Hmm, we did rather enjoy each other’s company,” Obi-Wan agreed.
“Obviously,” Rex groaned. “If I had a credit for every time people raved about your ‘particularly close relationship,’ I’d have made an actual salary.”
At that, Obi-Wan laughed. A long pent up joy longing to break out as the images came to mind unbidden of wanton looks across the holotable, of discarded armor on the floor, of that smile that seemed to be just for Obi-Wan until his vision became blurry and the mirth gave way to a searing ache in the pit of his stomach. He wiped away the moisture from his eyes and caught Rex staring sympathetically. “I just miss him so much,” Obi-Wan admitted, using his sleeve to hide a sniffle.
“Me too,” Rex said. “We’re going to get him. He’ll be home soon.”
His confidence and experience convinced the stabbing pain in Obi-Wan’s gut to at last relent.
---
The flight to Yerbana offered enough time to sketch the outline of a plan, but it also allowed for too much time to think, for the buzz of nerves to build. Meditation no longer came as easily to Obi-Wan as it had before the war.
On Tatooine, it wasn’t until he’d found a renewed purpose in memorializing the men that he’d began finding peace.
“Rex, would you mind,” Obi-Wan probed, “telling me more about your brothers in the 501st? I’ve been hoping to learn more about the men who served with us who I didn’t get to know.”
That was how Obi-Wan learned about Kix and his propensity for pulling rank, about Hardcase and the tooka doll he kept hidden in his bunk, about Fives and the way he bailed out brothers from the drunk tank on Coruscant. That was how Obi-Wan learned about Jesse’s propensity for narrowly escaping death on multiple occasions. Until he didn’t.
“I thought Umbara would be the worst thing I ever lived through,” Rex said. “And then I almost killed Ahsoka. Then Jesse tried to kill me. Then,” but he trailed off.
“But you didn’t kill Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan reminded him. Reminded himself—there were others, maybe more than just him, Yoda and Ahsoka still out there. Still surviving.
“I tried to,” Rex said. “When the order came, I had no choice. I fought so hard to reject what it was telling me was true, and I could only get out one word to warn her. She did all the work after that. I tried to kill her longer than I tried to warn her,” he lamented. “And Obi-Wan,” he said, turning to face Obi-Wan with a renewed conviction, “there’s no way you’re alive right now if Cody didn’t fight, too. I can’t believe any chip is strong enough to make that stubborn bastard kill you.”
Obi-Wan wanted so desperately to believe it. Not that it would change his determination to bring Cody home or his feelings for the man — only that it would mean Cody had tasted some freedom, hadn’t been wholly subsumed to programming outside his control, a passenger to his own life for two years.
“It doesn’t matter,” Obi-Wan said. “He could have looked me in the eye with a blaster in his hand and I would have known it wasn’t him.”
Rex hummed, “Well, all I’m saying is, you survived and the only thing that makes sense is he fought hard enough to let you get away. With the right rifle, Cody would never miss that shot if he wanted to make it.”
Obi-Wan smiled despite himself. Expert, adept, unerring Cody. Trapped now inside a body that was at once his, but not his own. Inflicting violence with his own hand but not by his own will.
“What was it like, being controlled by the chip?” It was another answer Obi-Wan didn’t want to hear, but had to know.
The zeal Rex had been channeling in Cody’s defense faltered at the question.
He shifted his gaze back out into space before beginning, “It’s like you were flying into battle, you knew exactly where you’re going and why. And then,” he hit his hand with his fist, “your jetpack fails. And you’re in free-fall, certain death coming at you, but it never comes. You just keep falling, every moment worse than the last and as much as you struggle, trying to get power back, you can’t do anything. Except hope it all ends soon. But you can’t even do that.”
Obi-Wan felt like a black hole was collapsing in on itself inside him.
---
Coming out of hyperspace above Yerbana, it was clear Rex and his sources were right: the Empire was deploying its assets for an assault on the planet. Two cruisers were already in place above the atmosphere, but plenty of commercial and private ships continued to jet to and from the surface, allowing Rex to maneuver his small ship into the crowd and disappear into the wilds beyond what was left of the city. They would come back for the ship another time, if everything went to plan.
As they hiked into the city, the sun sank below the horizon and a large star destroyer entered the atmosphere above the spaceport.
“That might be him,” Rex said, adjusting the strap on his rifle. “Come on, let’s get into position.”
Scattered debris from collapsed facades and streets that smelled of trash and wastewater could not hide that this was once a vibrant city. The density of buildings suggested a place where people once congregated, where children may have played together and filled the air with high-pitched laughter. This night, the windows were dark, the doors were closed, and the people about were not there to make merry.
An abandoned tenement offered Obi-Wan and Rex an opportunity to get to the rooftops. With the high ground, they skirted their way towards the staging area where the Imperial troop transports were arriving. Perched with a view of the landing zone, the aggressiveness of the Empire’s efforts to subdue populations was evident. Dozens of platoons of stormtroopers were forming and fanning out on different routes into the city.
“There they are,” Rex announced as a small ship floated to the ground, wings protectively folding up around it. “Intel says Cody should be easy to spot, in all black armor with a red shoulder piece.”
They watched and waited in silence as the ramp on the ship lowered, an eerie glow throwing ghostly shadows out onto the ground.
Obi-Wan had heard the stories about Vader. It hadn’t prepared him for seeing the imposing figure in black stride down the ramp, cape whipping behind him and a familiar creep of cold seeping into everything the Force touched. Even surrounded by molten rock, Anakin’s anger had kept the heat at bay.
Vader was a different being, but the way he carried himself was still so much like Anakin, so much like his brother, and Obi-Wan couldn’t look away. Maybe this time he could find the right words, the right—
“Hey,” Rex elbowed him. “We’ll never get him back with just the two of us.” He motioned back towards the ship with his head. “Let’s stick to one impossible rescue for today.”
Rex was right, of course. They would need an army to take on Vader if the stories were anything to go by. And if Obi-Wan trusted anyone to raise and lead an army, it was the man they had come to rescue.
Behind Vader, as the intel had supplied, two figures in black armor and rifles trailed him in lock-step. What the intel got wrong was the red pauldrons — both troopers bore one. Obi-Wan and Rex shared a look and Rex just lifted a shoulder.
“You didn’t think it was going to be that easy, did you?”
Where Obi-Wan could see the vestiges of Anakin in the way Vader walked, clenched fists at his sides, he was distressed not to be able to tell the two purge troopers apart. There had been a time when Obi-Wan could scan the 212th on the battlefield from a descending LAAT and immediately identify Cody from his movements alone, the way he dashed from one squad leader to the next, the way he held a weapon. Obi-Wan had, at one time, known him so intimately and now Cody was a hundred meters away and invisible.
Vader paused at the edge of the staging area, inspecting the street where Obi-Wan and Rex were observing from above. Obi-Wan wiped his mind clear of any stray thoughts, they could not risk alerting Vader to their presence at the moment. As much as they hoped to be taking the Empire by surprise on Yerbana, Obi-Wan and Rexwere still chasing the bait set by Vader and were severely outnumbered.
As the purge troopers approached him, Vader turned on his heel and they snapped to attention. He pointed towards an adjacent section of the city behind where Obi-Wan and Rex had hunkered down on the rooftop. They couldn’t hear his orders, but the two troopers nodded in sync and began marching in that direction. Beside him, Rex let out a relieved sigh. Below him, Obi-Wan heard the singular zzhhppt of a lightsaber turning on. His breath caught seeing the red blade in Vader’s hand.
“Obi-Wan!” Rex hissed, tugging him back to the mission and in the direction the purge troopers had marched. Obi-Wan wavered for a moment, then followed. He could only save one man tonight, and it would be Cody.
In the distance, as they traversed the skyline in pursuit of the troopers, Obi-Wan heard the unmistakable sounds of a lightsaber slicing through the air followed by the crashing of metal and debris as Vader cut a path of destruction.
---
Obi-Wan and Rex tailed the purge troopers from overhead, climbing or hopping across rooftops, the noise blending easily into the grinding din of the patrolling ships, the TIEs whizzing by, and the transports dropping off more stormtroopers.
At each home or store along the street, one man in black would kick down the door while the other raced in, rifle up. After a few minutes they would exit and take their scare tactics to the next door. They traded roles for two blocks until they disappeared into one house for a longer stint than usual.
“They’re probably looking for dissidents,” Rex explained. “There’s been some resistance to the Empire here.”
This time, the troopers didn’t come out alone. They had bullied a family of Twi’leks, two parents and two children, out of the home at gunpoint. The travesty would have torn at Obi-Wan’s heart under any circumstances, but to know one of the goons was Cody, terrorizing against his will, ripped deeper.
One of the troopers used the muzzle of his rifle to force the Twi’leks onto their knees while the other prowled in front of them.
“I’m going to end this,” Obi-Wan said, moving towards the side of the building before Rex could stop him.
“Obi-Wan, what about the plan!” Rex called.
“I’m improvising,” Obi-Wan replied, “you stay here,” and then dropped onto an emergency escape gantry above an alley.
If he could get close enough now and overpower one of the troopers, Rex could still take out the other from the roof like they had designed.
The movement must have caught the attention of the executioner, because he swung his rifle up and pointed it directly at Obi-Wan. Seeing the first trooper move, the second one followed with his rifle an instant later and immediately shot at Obi-Wan’s position — a mark of poor training that suggested a new Imperial recruit was under the armor.
Obi-Wan ducked the blaster fire and leaped off the back of the gantry into the alley below, aiming for a spot behind two dumpsters. Above him, he saw Rex dashing to resight himself for a better shot. They could make this work.
In the shuffle, Obi-Wan had lost track of which trooper had been the one who fired but both were closing in on where he had taken cover in the dead end of the alley. It was risky given Vader’s proximity, but Obi-Wan opened himself up to the Force.
His heart lurched.
Not at the depth of cold oozing into the Force but at the absence of Cody. Or what Obi-Wan would have expected to feel in the Force if Cody were there. He felt the two purge troopers closing on him, a sharp malevolence from one and a simmering loathing from the other. Obi-Wan hoped it was just the brainwashing at work, that one of these troopers was actually Cody hidden behind a helmet and chip.
“Show yourself,” a thin voice came through a vocoder.
Obi-Wan tugged the hood of his robes over his head and took a deep breath to steel himself, his muscle memory for showdowns like this felt weak after two years of relative solitude on Tatooine. He tested the waters by inching one hand out from the safety of the dumpsters while he used the other to grip the hilt of his lightsaber. No one shot at his hand, which seemed like a good sign.
“Show more of yourself,” the same voice demanded.
“Don’t shoot,” Obi-Wan warned. “I’m more valuable alive.”
“We’ll see about that,” he chirped, “prove it.”
The rest of Obi-Wan’s body followed his hand into the open until he was standing in front of the two faceless purge troopers, his own hood hopefully obscuring his own identity. He was counting on the element of surprise.
In one swift motion, Obi-Wan brushed off his hood and lit his lightsaber. Instantly, the troopers raised their rifles — except the hands of the trooper to Obi-Wan’s left jerked like he briefly hit an invisible barrier.
“Jedi!” the trooper on his right yelled.
But Obi-Wan was already lunging for the man on the left, lightsaber discarded in favor of disarming the man without harming him. As he tackled the man, he heard a double-tap of stunner shots from above drop the second trooper with a thud.
Under him, the purge trooper thrashed, pulling at where Obi-Wan’s arms were pinning his shoulders and kicking at where he sat on his legs. Adrenaline fueled Obi-Wan’s fight, but he tapped the Force to assist with the restraints even though he knew he’d need to pull even harder from the Force later. But Obi-Wan needed to know he hadn’t come all this way only to lose everything again, lose all hope again.
He pulled off the purge trooper’s helmet with practiced ease, his stomach roiling with doubt and desire all at once.
Obi-Wan collapsed into Cody with joyous relief. He had never been so happy to see someone so determined to kill him. But it was Cody and all that mattered was that he was alive and right there. Obi-Wan wanted to hold him close, soothe him, tell him it was going to be over soon, but he couldn’t promise any of that if he didn’t keep the plan moving.
He grabbed Cody by the top of his chest plate and rolled them over, so Cody was on top of him. It gave the man a much better angle at Obi-Wan’s throat, but Rex was again quick on the trigger and Cody was limp on top of him almost as soon as Obi-Wan heard the blaster shots.
---
“I’ll admit, it looks good,” Rex said, fully dressed and checking himself out in the purge trooper armor they had procured from Cody’s partner. “I wouldn’t want to go up against any clankers in it, though.”
Obi-Wan tuned out the rest of Rex’s musings, wading deeper into meditation. The alley was only five blocks from the Imperial staging area with plenty of ships to steal, but that was five blocks they had to evade suspicion — and keep Vader unaware of their presence.
If Obi-Wan could tap into Cody’s mind and get his help, their odds of survival went up. But Obi-Wan had never prodded at Cody’s brain before — for many reasons, not the least of which was that he doubted he’d be able to get in — and he felt indecent doing it now without Cody’s consent. With the chip, Obi-Wan suspected Cody’s mind would be more susceptible to influence.
Obi-Wan reached in, wondering if he would be able to feel the chip, if he could find Cody locked away inside and beg forgiveness. Instead, he lost focus and his consciousness was yanked towards a deep chasm. Obi-Wan regained a footing and a tug pulled him back to the safer regions of Cody’s mind muted by the chip.
Cody blinked to awareness but the aftereffects of the stun impaired his alertness. He eyed Rex the purge trooper warily and then shifted his glare to Obi-Wan, who was still hovering inside his mind, desperately searching for a glimmer of hope.
“Traitor,” Cody said, unsteadily.
“Obi-Wan,” Rex warned.
“It will work,” he replied. He reached in again, feeling around for the steady peace of Cody.
“Obi-Wan,” Cody gasped, eyes pleading. Obi-Wan jumped at hearing his name on Cody’s tongue like they were back on the Negotiator sharing everything and each other.
The shock snapped Obi-Wan’s concentration. The warmth in Cody’s eyes flipped off and he darted for Obi-Wan while growling, “Good soldiers—”
Stunner blasts cut him off and laid him out again.
“We need to try a different tactic,” Rex said, rifle still pointed at Cody’s still form.
Obi-Wan deflated. For a second, he and Cody had been together again.
But they would need more than a second to get to a ship and off the planet. For now, Obi-Wan would have to sacrifice neutralizing the chip, he would have to focus on controlling it.
“I can do it,” he insisted. “I’ll just have to trick the programmed part of him instead.”
It felt like giving up, like a betrayal, but this was the only way.
“I’ll carry him closer to the spaceport, that way it won’t have to last as long,” Rex said. “We shouldn’t run into anybody for a couple blocks and if anyone asks, I’ll say you stunned him.”
If they got closer to the ships, Obi-Wan wouldn’t have to secure the chip’s acquiescence for quite so long. Given that he wasn’t sure how long he could hold onto control, the shorter amount of time they needed the chip’s cooperation, the better.
“Alright,” Obi-Wan said, and fastened the black helmet back onto Cody’s head. “Might as well put the binders on me now.”
With Cody over Rex’s shoulder and Obi-Wan parading as his prisoner, they were able to get within two blocks of where Vader’s ship had landed. While the distance itself was short, the swarm of Imperial troop activity around the spaceport made the trip much more precarious. The prospect of walking through their base of operations with a dissident and an unconscious purge trooper without drawing too much radio chatter or Vader’s attention was daunting.
Before the stunner blast lost its limited duration, Rex ushered them to take refuge in an abandoned storefront for Obi-Wan’s next attempt.
“Now the fun part,” Rex said, kneeling to sit Cody on the ground. “Playing Imp for an audience of a thousand rakeweeds.” He took Cody’s helmet off so they could watch for him to wake.
This time, Cody came to grimacing, sending Obi-Wan a pang of sympathy pain. Waking from one stunner blast usually left someone with at least half an hour of pins pricking every inch of their skin, two often added muscle spasms, three could cause days of numbness and, well, Obi-Wan hoped they wouldn’t have to get many more beyond that.
But Obi-Wan couldn’t dwell on the possibilities, he closed his eyes and inhaled to clear his mind and let the worry go. The Force glowed softly around him. Obi-Wan drew on its strength and reached out to the chip inside Cody.
Obi-Wan focused on his breathing, in and out, and the link he needed to make if they were all going to get off this planet together and alive. With little warning, the connection to the chip was pushed in his reach. Take it, he heard Cody say, maybe an echo from the physical world or maybe inside his meditation.
He latched onto it, holding tighter as it tried to slip away, and opened his eyes. Cody stared back blankly. Obi-Wan had taken control. He swallowed the bile rising in his throat and said to Cody, “I’m your prisoner and you’re escorting me to Lord Vader’s ship.”
“You’re my prisoner and I’m escorting you to Lord Vader’s ship,” Cody repeated. He put his helmet on and started to stand.
Rex lowered the blaster he’d had at the ready and ejected a cartridge from the second rifle before handing it to Cody.
“I guess it’s showtime, sirs,” Rex said.
---
Under the draping hood of his robes, Obi-Wan concentrated wholly on maintaining a tight grip on the edge of the chip in Cody’s mind. So far, it had obliged his request to march him towards the ship, shackled between Cody and Rex, but he could feel it squirming, sapping his energy as he fought for command.
As they drew near the ramp to Vader’s ship, the two purge troopers drew plenty of nods and salutes, but no outsized attention. Besides Obi-Wan’s precarious handle on the mind trick, the most impending impediment were the two stormtroopers posted at the entrance to Vader’s ship. There was no way Obi-Wan could both maintain his hold on Cody and use the trick on them.
“Rex, you’ll have to do the talking,” Obi-Wan muttered as they approached the ramp.
It almost sounded like Rex chortled in agreement.
The stormtroopers straightened to attention when confronted by the purge troopers. “Sirs,” a woman’s voice greeted them. “Is Lord Vader departing?”
“No,” Rex said, and affected a brusque edge to his voice, “We’re securing the prisoner on the destroyer. Lord Vader and the troopers will remain here to clear the city.”
The chip bucked at Obi-Wan and he strained to subdue it. Obi-Wan’s heart was pounding at the effort. He was running out of endurance, they were running out of time.
“Of course, commander,” the woman said, then motioned at Obi-Wan. “Weren’t we looking for Twi’lek dissidents, sir?”
Rex yanked at Obi-Wan’s arm, ”Got something better. Come on,” he said to Cody, “let’s get him ready for Lord Vader.”
Rex started up the ramp and Obi-Wan nudged at the connection with Cody to follow. He didn’t. Not immediately. Obi-Wan poked at the chip again, and then Cody started. The two stormtroopers looked at each other, but didn’t say anything.
---
In the cockpit, Rex was a flurry of movement compared to the tranquility Obi-Wan needed to embody the same in Cody. Only a few more minutes. Then they were safe. Then Cody was free.
He felt the shuttle shudder as it fired up to lift-off. Please, just a little longer, please, Obi-Wan pled into the connection, where it felt like he was hanging off a ledge by a finger, about to fall. He took a breath and gained back a handhold, something lifting him up, easing his effort to sustain control. He placed his hands on Cody’s shoulders to steady himself.
As the planet receded below the shuttle, Obi-Wan drew on the hope that it was almost over. Just a jump to hyperspace, a shuffle of ships, an impossibly unpleasant second jump, plus a trip to medbay and that was it. After they made it out of Yerbana’s atmosphere, at least the deadly parts were done. There were, Obi-Wan had imagined, still many hard things ahead of them long after the chip was removed.
“Dagger two,” the ship’s comm crackled to life. “What’s your current trajectory?”
Rex swore. Already dangling, Obi-Wan lost the last touch of connection he had on Cody’s mind. He saw the fire return to his amber eyes and felt Cody brace for action beneath his hands.
“The cruisers in orbit, sir,” Rex offered into the comm in his gruff Cody impersonation.
“On whose authority?” the voice on the radio demanded.
Cody sprang forward, and Obi-Wan’s heart stopped, he had no energy left to fight the chip or the man physically or mentally. But Cody reached past Obi-Wan and hit the comm.
“CC-2224, by orders of Lord Vader,” he barked. “Imperial code 726.”
Rex and Obi-Wan didn’t breathe. Cody squeezed either side of his head with his palms.
“Very well, CC-2224, proceed to the Dauntless, hangar three,” the radio replied.
Cody turned to Rex. “Stun me,” he croaked. Rex fumbled for the rifle. “Quickly!”
---
By the chrono in the medbay, it had only been a few hours since they had taken off from Yerbana and boarded Bail’s ship. By Obi-Wan’s count, he had been waiting years for Cody to come back.
Despite the exhaustion of their escape and the crash of adrenaline, Obi-Wan did not sleep. While Rex had assured him he’d never seen a chip removal fail, he did say it could take some hours for patients to wake after this surgery. So Obi-Wan assumed a familiar position, watching over Cody in the medbay, waiting for him to recover.
Even asleep, Obi-Wan could feel the change in Cody in the Force once the surgery was over. With the chip, his presence had been muted and dull. Without it, the vibrance that Obi-Wan so loved and had come to depend on was returning.
Obi-Wan sensed Cody was waking by the growing intensity of his Force presence, which was tinged with distraught. Cody didn’t move or open his eyes, but his breathing became more rapid. Maybe he was trying to assess where he was, Obi-Wan thought. Maybe he didn’t remember what had happened.
“Cody,” Obi-Wan cooed. Cody flinched but kept his eyes shut. “It’s okay, you’re safe,” he said, flattening a hand over Cody’s heart. “Do you remember last night in the alley?”
Cody’s jaw clenched several times and he slowly opened his eyes with a long exhale. When his eyes met Obi-Wan’s, they bore a wealth of despair.
“Yes, Obi-Wan, I remember,” he murmured. “I remember everything.” His voice carried the weight of nearly two years as the tip of the Empire’s spear. “Everything.”
Obi-Wan moved his hand to cup Cody’s face. “I’m sorry, love, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, none of it’s your fault.”
Obi-Wan didn’t agree with Cody’s assessment of the situation, but he’d rather relish the moment than argue the point. He chose instead to focus on the warmth of Cody’s skin against his and the affection reflected in his eyes, something Obi-Wan never dared dream he would have again.
“You’re here and you’re free, that’s what matters right now.”
Cody pushed himself up and sat up on the medbay bed so he was facing Obi-Wan. The affection in his eyes gave way to a trepidation Obi-Wan rarely saw.
“Obi-Wan,” he started. “Will you forgive me? When you’ve learned everything I’ve done?”
Obi-Wan cradled Cody’s head between his hands. “There’s nothing to forgive, Cody, you haven’t done anything but suffer at the hands of the Empire,” Obi-Wan said. And he couldn’t help but think because of me.
Cody didn’t look placated. Obi-Wan realized Cody’s pain might take as long to heal as Obi-Wan’s own scars. They would forgive each other over and over again, but not themselves. It would be a long and dusty road to absolution, but they would have each other.
He wasn’t going to convince Cody with his words, so Obi-Wan would use his actions. He pulled Cody’s face towards his own, slow enough so Cody could demure if he chose to, until their lips reunited.
As starved for Cody as he was, Obi-Wan started gently, relearning the rhythm of how their bodies move in harmony. A burn that had been absent for years soared through Obi-Wan. He hadn’t felt this at peace since before Utapau. Obi-Wan pulled back just enough so his forehead still pressed into Cody’s, but so he had the room to say, “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Obi-Wan,” Cody breathed back, then reclaimed Obi-Wan for a kiss.
Whatever the Empire wrought, they would face it together.