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If Cody was asked about it later, he would have vehemently denied Fox’s insinuations that he was pouting and following his general around the landing platform like a lost shiny. Currently, however, he could admit to himself that was exactly what he was doing. It’s not every day that Obi-Wan is physically set off by the mention of someone’s name, let alone another jetii .
It just made him nervous, that’s all.
Again, contrary to what Fox said, it had nothing to do with the way that Obi-Wan’s eyes crinkled at the corners whenever he was telling the two clones standing on the platform next to him stories from their youth. It had nothing to do with the way that his eyes caught an extra-annoyed gleam that was reserved for those closest to him – which in all of Cody’s time knowing that man had been reserved for Anakin, Ahsoka , and – well – him.
Obi-Wan glanced his way and gave him a soft and sincere smile after he was finished informing Fox about the native fauna that would try to eat them on Nal Hutta and the commander was suddenly very thankful for the bucket covering the blush that he knew was making its way all the way down his neck.
That was the other issue.
Cody had absolutely no idea where he and the general stood, if they even stood anywhere. This thing that had been going on between them whenever they had downtime or – more recently even when they were on the clock – became more confusing the more he learned about the Jedi Order. It was absurd, really, the thought that a jetii would be involved with anyone and especially not a clone. Yet, here they were, about to go forth on another mission and Obi-Wan had walked over and specifically brushed his shoulder up against Cody’s in a very lousy attempt at subtlety.
“Sir, you seem troubled,” Cody muttered, attempting to slow his heart rate down so it wouldn’t alert Fox’s HUD system.
“Quinlan Vos seems to have that effect,” he frowned.
“Ah, yes,” the commander picked his words carefully. “From what you’ve told me, that Jedi has quite a reputation.”
“You may be overstating it Cody,” his frown was replaced with a momentarily thoughtful expression. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. “Let’s just say he’s crazy.” Cody barely managed to cover a snort, but Fox spoke before he had a chance to respond.
“He’s late,” Fox scowled.
“Very,” Obi-Wan peered into the sky. “You know, Fox, you didn’t have to accompany us on this mission. I am quite confident that two Jedi and a Marshall Commander would be able to handle this. I’m sure the Chancellor is missing your services.”
“That was before Bane brought my senate into this,” the other clone growled.
Obi-Wan’s brow furrowed, but left it alone. “I see now that all your brothers aren’t as… sociable as the 212th,” he whispered to Cody when Fox picked up a comm call from the Chancellor’s office.
He couldn’t help but grin at that. “He doesn’t say much unless he feels like it. If I had to bet, he’ll probably speak in one-word answers for the rest of the trip,” Cody mused. “He’s only here because it gets him out of all of the paperwork that the Chancellor doesn’t feel like doing.”
“I heard that,” came the gruff reply. Neither Cody nor Obi-Wan turned around, but Obi-Wan’s eyes scrunched up just slightly.
The telltale whirring signaling that a Republic transport was making its way towards them caught Cody’s attention.
“Ship entry from the west, sir,” Cody pointed.
The ship was approaching the landing platform at a remarkable speed, so much so that Cody would have sworn Skywalker was piloting it if he didn’t have inside information that the young jetii was spending the day at a certain senator’s apartment.
By the time it reached them, it was dangerously low and Cody had to fight the urge to reach over and grab Obi-Wan to steady him; that was soon replaced by them both holding their arms up to fight the force of the wind.
Fox remained unmoved and stoic as ever, the bastard.
“Hey, Kenobi!” a voice shouted from above.
All of a sudden there was a large, dark shadow and the three of them watched as a figure dove off the ship, somersaulting midair and landing on the platform with ease.
Cody’s jaw clenched. “Ha,” he muttered under his breath. Neither Jedi seemed to notice, but Fox’s bucket snapped his way the moment the syllable left his mouth. Oh, he was in for it later.
“Hey Commander, you look good,” Vos finally said, breaking the silence. “Kenobi, you look worse for wear, how’s temple life?” Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow in retaliation. “Good to see you too.”
“Yes, well, if you could tell time half as good as you could stick a landing, we wouldn’t be behind sche-”
“You’re late.”
Cody, Obi-Wan, and Vos all balked, turning to stare at Fox who had interrupted them.
“Ah, Commander Fox, I didn’t know you’d be here?” Vos wasted no time, recovering quite well while both Obi-Wan and Cody stood there still in shock from Fox’s interruption.
“Yeah, well, that was before Bane got the senate involved. Let’s just get this over with,” the other clone sighed.
“Well, I’m glad to see you too, Foxy,” Quinlan winked. Fox immediately went stiff which sent Cody into a coughing fit. For the second time in five minutes, Cody could feel Fox’s glare on him through not one but two buckets and he was definitely going to hear about this soon.
“Let’s just get down to business,” Obi-Wan said, attempting to diffuse the situation. “Ziro the Hutt was broken out during a hostage takeover.”
“Yeah, I read the briefing about that mess,” Vos replied casually.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “I suspect Jabba the Hutt is behind this. He still has it out for Ziro over the kidnapping of his son.”
“Well, my information indicates that Ziro has damaging evidence against the Hutt council. My guess is they’ve taken him to the Hutt home planet Nal Hutta.”
“Yes, I read your briefing about that mess and have already been informing our commanders here about the Hutt’s… interesting home,” his general replied, giving Vos a wry grin.
“Why, you did miss me!” Vos grinned and threw his arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulders as they began walking toward the ship set aside for their mission. Obi-Wan gave a sigh, but the smile that came out when he did so gave him away. It made Cody’s insides burn.
“As for this bounty hunter Cad Bane, we must capture and return both he and his quarry Ziro to the courts. I trust you and I can keep eyes forward in this common goal?” Cody’s tongue felt heavy in his mouth and he tasted lead. He was right, and of course Obi-Wan was the kriffing example of professionalism, making sure that their shared history wouldn’t impact the mission.
“No problem. I owe Bane one anyway,” the other jedi grinned.
“Now that, we can agree on,” Fox finally cut in, grabbing Cody by the arm and leading him towards the ship with a stronger grip on his arm than necessary. Fox was either making a move of incredible solidarity or he wanted to get under his brother’s skin as quickly as possible. Cody honestly wasn’t sure – you could never tell with Fox.
“Good. I’ll fly. You’ll be my copilot,” Vos smirked and drug Obi-Wan up the ramp.
“I was afraid he’d say that,” Fox and Obi-Wan muttered at the same time.
They landed on the horrible swamp planet known as Nal Hutta and when Fox moved to stand, Vos put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to bristle. Vos didn’t withdraw, though, so Cody almost had respect for the man. He was brave, that’s for sure.
“We need you two to stay here on the ship,” he sent another smile to Fox as he removed his hand.
“Absolutely not,” Fox said as he stood up.
“I would prefer to go with you, sir,” Cody turned to Obi-Wan. “If we’re dealing with the Hutts you are going to need as many men as you can.”
“I’m afraid I agree with Quinlan on this one,” he shot Cody an apologetic glance.
Quinlan . Cody grimaced.
“But, sir-”
It was Obi-Wan’s turn to lay a hand on Cody’s shoulder causing him to stop in his tracks. “It is precisely because we are dealing with the Hutts that we need you two here as backup. One never wants to show all their cards when they are dealing with the Hutt clan.”
Cody wasn’t sure if it was the smile that Obi-Wan sent him or the heat that was radiating off his shoulder where his jetii’s hand was still on his armor that made him back down, but he finally conceded.
“Fine, but comm me the moment something goes wrong.”
“Always,” the redhead smiled and squeezed his shoulder before he let go. It left the now empty spot feeling cold, but Cody ignored it.
Cody looked over in time to see that Fox nearly growled as he shook Quinlan’s hand off of him, but it said something that he let him linger that long.
Interesting.
“We’ll be back soon – keep my seat warm Foxy,” Vos smirked as he and Obi-Wan walked down the ramp of the ship.
This time, Fox did growl.
“If it wouldn’t get me sent back to Kamino, I swear I would put him in the cargo hold and dump him out there in the middle of the swamp,” the other clone grumbled.
Cody snorted. “I’m sure you could just pardon yourself. You’ve forged Palpatine’s signature enough.”
Fox didn’t seem to think that warranted a response so he shrugged and moved back into the ship. Cody let himself smile – Fox never changed.
When they had both found themselves seated in the pilot and co-pilot’s chair, Fox had found himself sitting in the chair previously occupied by Vos, but Cody didn’t dare mention it for fear of his life. It had always been peaceful when it was him and Fox; they just got each other like that.
Until he was halfway through the instant caf that he had rummaged through the back of the ship to find and Fox blankly said: “So you and Kenobi, huh?”
Cody spit out the caf back into his cup which caused Fox to actually smile for the first time the entire mission. “I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about,” Cody said, attempting to regain his dignity while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Fox shrugged, but his smile had grown at one corner. “Just an observation.”
“Again, I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“It could be worse. At least he’s pretty.”
“Fox,” Cody warned.
“Alright, alright,” his façade finally cracking into a full smile at Cody. “I’ll leave the matchmaking to Rex’ika . He was always better at it than I was.”
Cody sucked in a breath. “You wouldn’t dare.”
His face went blank. “Hmm.”
“Well then I might just have to accidentally leak my HUD video of you freezing when Vos called you Foxy,” Cody shrugged.
“I would be very careful,” Fox’s eyes turned sharp. Ah, there he was.
“Then we’ll just have to call it a truce then,” Cody held his gaze with determination. Fox, in some ways, was so much like their buir it hurt. Most of the younger brothers didn’t know, but Jango had the same steely eyes and the only way you got anywhere was not looking away.
Fox finally nodded and rolled his eyes, seemingly ending the conversation there. Cody fell back into his chair in relief; most of the time his brothers were a blessing. Most of the time.
A few minutes passed between them before either of them spoke again. Cody knew it was coming. As with many things, it’s something all of them have come to expect from Fox. He likes to think about what he says before he says it. Cody wished that some of the younger brothers would learn from him – Rex could sure use it.
“You know that it – it’s not unheard of, right Cod’ika ?”
Cody looked up to find he was at the center of Fox’s usual piercing gaze. This time it was… softer, somehow.
“Fox, I,” Cody swallowed. “He’s my general.”
“It’s a normal thing,” Fox chided him.
“That’s not-”
“I can see it coming off you both in waves,” he says, stone-faced. If it was anyone else, it could have been an insult. It still could be.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cody looked away. He has been trying this whole mission not to think about what he and Obi-Wan were . He ran a hand through his short hair, “we haven’t even – kriff, Fox – we haven’t even done anything yet.” Besides, none of that mattered now that Quinlan was here.
“It doesn’t matter what you have or haven’t done, what matters is that you two are very interested in one another,” he stated it simply, but Cody had known Fox long enough to understand the implication. He had never been one to access his own emotions, but when it came to his younger brothers Fox suddenly always became very emotionally intelligent. Jango was always that way, too. It would have been hilarious if his radar wasn’t tuned in to him right now.
“You can’t just ignore it forever vod,” Fox pressed. “And look at our brothers: Bly and Rex’ika both are in love with jetii, but they-”
“Kriffing hells Fox, I’m not in love with him!” Cody huffed.
“You could never lie to me,” his brother raised both his eyebrows at him.
“We shouldn’t be having this conversation, we’re in the middle of a mission,” he changed the subject. As much as he hated to admit it, Cody really couldn’t lie to Fox. He didn’t feel like finding out if he was lying to himself, too.
“Sorry I’m not used to this. I don’t get out much,” Fox deadpanned. It was his best attempt at humor, and Cody refused to give it to him after the conversation they just had.
In fact, “So you and Vos, huh?”
“No,” Fox said as he made a noise, something akin to choking in his gruff voice.
Cody was glad that they had their buckets off so he could see the blush go all the way down his face through his neck.
“No, what?” came a voice from behind them. Vos and Obi-Wan were making their way up the ramp onto the spaceship.
Cody grinned from ear to ear, ignoring the glare and the sinking feeling that he would have to check his caf for poison or laxatives for the next two months.
“It’s nothing,” Fox bit out.
Vos smirked but the joy was quickly cut off by Obi-Wan saying “Sorry it took so long, but we have some unfortunate news. Ziro was here, but he escaped somehow. Quinlan says he tracked him going towards the swamp.”
Cody groaned. “There’s not a chance you two would still want us to stay in the ship as backup is there?”
Obi-Wan’s amused smile sent warmth through his muscles. “I’m afraid not.”
“You owe me a new pair of boots after this,” he grumbled.
Ever the negotiator, the Jedi held his hand out with a smirk. “Deal.”
He hated the swamp. He hated his karking Jedi. He hated the Nal Hutta and Obi-Wan owes him a brand-new pair of boots and two days of paperwork duty.
Cody swore under his breath as he tripped over another vine attempting to wade through the water. For a while, he thought Fox was secretly doing fine and he was just acting like a shiny until Vos and Obi-Wan took another giant force leap and his brother had actually muttered “kriffing hells.”
By the time they had caught up, the two Jedi were in the middle of an argument.
“I understand your tracking talent, but why wouldn’t Ziro leave the planet? Why not just fly away?” he heard Obi-Wan panting. He was glad his jetii couldn’t see him smirking at him. Obi-Wan was finally getting a taste of his own damn medicine.
“My senses tell me that he’s still here,” Vos haphazardly answered. He was making no attempt to even look back at the other man, eyes closed and preoccupied with the force.
“It’s illogical!” Obi-Wan stamped his foot and put his hands on his hips, forcing Cody to stifle a laugh. It was kind of cute. “He knows he’s being looked for here.”
“Then that means-”
“Something is keeping him here,” Fox finished for Vos. The Jedi broke his concentration and looked at the clone with an expression full of surprise and admiration. In his small time of knowing Quinlan Vos, it was the first time he had ever seen a smidge of respect come from the man.
It was over as soon as it had begun, Vos jumping over the soggy bottom of the swamp away from the group, leaving Obi-Wan to turn to the two clones.
“If we brought a droid this would go faster,” he pouted towards Cody.
Just as Cody was about to respond with something incredibly intelligent and witty, something burst through the clouded water, shrieking and flailing. The serpentine creature headed straight for Obi-Wan, coiling around him and hissing.
“Obi-Wan!” Cody went wide-eyed with alarm, not even realizing he had dropped the usual rank.
“General, hang on,” Fox was slightly less panicked, but even his stoic demeanor had changed in the face of the creature.
The serpent went to strike Obi-Wan, but he caught it’s maw and was prying the gargantuan jaws away from his face with sheer will. When Fox retold the story, he would say that Cody had never looked more in love than in that moment and Cody would swear on the honor of the 212th that he was lying.
“A little help here,” Obi-Wan struggled out through gritted teeth, still forcibly keeping the snake from eating him whole.
“We can’t get a clear shot!” Cody shouted over the hissing and splashing, desperately trying to find an opening.
In one swift move, Obi-Wan pushed the serpent back, jumped from its hold, and ignited his lightsaber – stabbing it through the tail. The creature screeched and dove in for a revenge kill, but the Jedi side stepped and stabbed the saber directly through the creature’s jaw and into its skull, dropping it instantly.
And yeah, okay, that was pretty hot.
Fox and Cody stood there, speechless and mouths agape until Quinlan approached from behind. “Are you finished messing around? We’re trying to catch Ziro.”
Cody almost turned around and decked him but Obi-Wan, sensing his anger, placed a hand up and gave him a small smile. Begrudgingly, Cody holstered his blaster.
“Which way have they gone?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Well, since you’re suddenly so interested in my tracking abilities,” Vos smirked, “they went this way.”
“Why, I never doubted you,” his jetii smirked and turned around to send an eye roll Cody and Fox’s way before using the force to make a huge leap over Vos’s head in the direction he pointed. Vos followed suit, leaving the two brothers standing there in dumbstruck silence.
“Your jetii is insane,” Fox grumbled.
“You’re not wrong,” Cody sighed.
A faint buzzing caught his ear. “Wait, do you hear that?”
No response.
“Fox, do you hea-”
He was cut off by Fox grabbing him and pulling him behind a tree. The buzzing grew louder until it was nearly on top of them. Neither moved for fear of being discovered, but once the buzzing began to fade, Cody popped his head around to see what it was.
It’s a boat , he tapped out onto Fox’s vambrace. He didn’t want to speak until he was sure it was gone. They waited until the buzzing was completely gone before they said anything.
“Did you get a good look at them?” Fox finally questioned when they came out from behind their tree.
“No,” Cody huffed.
“Looks as though we are not the only ones after Ziro,” a voice said behind him. Obi-Wan and Vos appeared out from behind a rock that was covered in moss, startling him. They needed to stop making a habit of that before Cody accidentally put a blaster bolt in one of them.
“Did you get a good look at them?” Fox asked the two Jedi. They both shook their heads.
“No, but I think we might find out if we follow that boat,” Vos nodded in the direction the buzzing went.
“Those excellent tracker skills, hmm,” Obi-Wan said dryly.
“They got us this far,” the other Jedi smirked back.
Cody sighed and Fox didn’t have the decency to even pretend not to notice.
“Let’s just get on with the mission,” Obi-Wan spoke, breaking the silence.
Eventually they ended up at a swamp hut that Cody could honestly say looked cleaner than the 501st’s barracks. He’d been into that deathtrap and lived to tell the tale, so he figured he could handle anything.
He was wrong.
“We must be cautious,” Obi-Wan warned as they approached the front door.
Naturally, Quinlan Vos decided that was the moment to use his lightsaber to slash the door and knock it down with a roundhouse kick. Cody was truly dumbfounded.
“Vos, somebody lives here!” Obi-Wan sighed, dismayed.
The damned jetii shrugged and threw them all a lazy salute and ran inside. Obi-Wan and Cody swore under their breath.
“I like his style,” Fox attempted indifference but his voice shifted towards the end.
Before Cody had time to react, Fox ran in after Vos and – being the good brother he was – Cody followed in after him, cursing his bloodline, which was his own. At this point, it really didn’t matter because Cody figured they were all cursed ten-thousand times over.
As he said, Cody had lived through the 501st’s barracks, but nothing had prepared him for the stench that hit him when he walked in the door. He had been on activity duty, serving in so many battles that he had lost track. He had held his brothers as they went into the next life, some screaming and some horribly silent. He had waded through dead brothers whose bodies had been out on the battlefield, festering next to the molten body parts of droids they had dismantled.
Yet, nothing prepared him for the horrible atrocity that was this hut in the middle of a backwater swamp in Nal Hutta.
Fox ran back outside to vomit.
“Ugh! Smells like somebody died in here,” Vos gagged, steadying himself on a wall.
“I wish that was all it smelled like,” Cody fumbled for words, too afraid to open his mouth for fear of ending up outside like Fox.
“Break in my house, will you? Smart guy,” a guttural sound came from somewhere in front of them.
The water began to clear from Cody’s eyes and looked up to find the largest Hutt he had ever seen; the mother of all Hutts – quite literally, Obi-Wan had explained later.
“Thousand pardons madam, he hasn’t mastered the concept of knocking. For that I apologize,” Obi-Wan had the audacity to look as though he was unbothered. He even threw in a bow, the cheeky son of a bantha.
“I got trouble for you too, Mr. Fancy Pants,” the Hutt replied. Even in this abysmal state, Cody couldn’t stop himself from smirking at the thought of someone calling Obi-Wan Mr. Fancy Pants . It warmed his heart to no end, and Obi-Wan’s name in his comm would never be the same.
“No need. We’re not here to harm you,” he replied smoothly, holding his hands up.
“That’ll be a first for tonight.”
Obi-Wan’s brow furrowed. “Meaning?”
“Meaning,” she took a pause, giving the three of them a onceover before proceeding. “First, my deadbeat son and his limp-lipped girlfriend come in and sponge me out of my starship. Then some slime sap and his droid charge in and force me to give up the skinny on where Ziro’s headed.”
That caught their attention.
“Big hat?” Vos asked, still pinching his nose.
“Yeah. Chad something out for blood.” Suddenly she turned on them. “You want to kill my little boy too?”
“Oh no, madam,” Obi-Wan gracefully stepped in. “But if we don’t find him before Bane does, your son will not be so lucky.”
“Teth. Ziro’s heading for Teth.”
“We need to get to that jungle planet,” Vos rasped out. “We need to get there fast.” He was already darting out of the room followed closely by Obi-Wan, leaving Cody standing there alone in front of a very angry looking Hutt.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Cody coughed out before taking off after them.
“Hey! Who’s gonna pay for my door?”
Cody held his breath all the way to the entrance of the hut until he was able to finally take in a ragged breath of fresh air. It was stale and horrible swamp air, but at least it was air. He turned to see Fox, bucket off and bent over a patch of swamp grass. He fought with the urge to take a HUD screenshot, but ultimately decided against it and helped his brother stand.
Wolffe would have been so disappointed.
“C’mon vod ,” he said, wrapping an arm around him.
“I’m fine,” Fox tried for it to come out harsh, but it didn’t come close.
“You and your weak stomach,” Cody elbowed him very softly so he would not risk upsetting it again.
“Where are we headed next?” he asked when he was finally able to walk on his own.
Cody sighed. “Teth, apparently.”
“This is not a jungle planet,” Fox grimaced when they landed on the sharp purple cliffs.
“It’s… a kind of jungle,” Vos smiled slightly at him, the first indication of shyness Cody had seen from him all trip. Fox just kept drawing more and more surprises from him.
Cody would have to bother him about it later.
They saw Ziro’s body from their ship as they descended, which caused more pandemonium than he had expected from two Jedi Knights.
“Quick, Cody take the controls!” Obi-Wan shouted as he got up from the steering schematic. Cody had to rush over to grab them before the ship could lurch sideways.
“We’re going to go see what happened to him, you two land the ship and get down there as soon as possible,” Vos said, his newfound fast manner of speech becoming difficult to track after an entire mission of smooth, laidback talking.
“How do you expec- kriffing hells!” Fox barked when the two of them opened the ramp and jumped from the ship as it still hovered in the air.
“Karking jetiise ,” Fox spit as he ran over to engage the landing gear for Cody.
“Remind me to never go on a mission with him ever again,” Cody mumbled when he finally got the ship on the ground.
“Vos or Kenobi?”
“Yes.”
Fox grimaced and grabbed his blaster from the floor where it had hastily been thrown in order to make sure they didn’t die while trying to land. “Let’s go save their kriffing asses.”
Cody snorted in response and they exited the ship together. Neither needed to say a thing; years of training together and knowing each other’s fighting styles so intimately meant that they rarely had use for verbal communication on the field. It’s what made clones so effective, but it’s also what made them human.
Ah, the duality of man , as Obi-Wan would say. Or clone.
Cody sighed.
When they reached the bottom of the cliff, Obi-Wan and Vos were in the middle of a firefight with Bane while Ziro the Hutt’s body lay on the ground in front of a casket with a few blaster holes in it.
Fox grunted and Cody knew that meant it was time to get involved.
As they ran towards the action taking pointless shots at Bane to draw his fire away from the two Jedi, Vos was thrown towards them, nearly colliding with Fox.
“Watch it!” Fox barked out, but stopped to give Vos a hand up. He turned to Cody and nodded his head in the direction Obi-Wan and Bane had gone.
“On it,” Cody said and broke out into a full sprint on bluffs.
He could see Obi-Wan deflecting bolt after bolt with two lightsabers – one blue and one green – in his hands. Just as he reached their position, Bane flew away using his rocket boots, but Obi-Wan jumped over him and beat him to the next bluff. Cody’s swears were filthy.
“Kriff, will you please just stand still?” he grit as he ran to catch up to the next bluff, firing shots in an attempt to distract Bane long enough for Obi-Wan to catch an opening.
Cody watched as Bane was able to get Vos’s lightsaber from Obi-Wan and ignite it, giving him a small sense of satisfaction. Bane stood little chance attempting to fight his jetii one-on-one in a lightsaber duel.
Oh.
Kriff .
Cody realized what was going on about two seconds before Obi-Wan did, but he was simply not fast enough to get to that stupid piece of rock. Bane had let Obi-Wan disarm him so that he could get in close and – Cody winced. There was the electric shock. That was going to hurt tomorrow.
“Oh no you don’t you kriffing bastard!” Cody shouted as Bane went to kick Obi-Wan off the side of a cliff. One well-placed shot to his right boot took out that thruster, leaving Bane vulnerable. By that time, Vos and Fox had arrived.
“Took you long enough,” Cody muttered. Fox squared his shoulders and shot the rock wall above Bane, sending the cliff tumbling towards him. He managed to get out of it with the one rocket boot he had left, but Vos jumped from a few spires away to knock him to the ground.
Cody whistled and prodded Fox with his elbow. “He’s not half bad.”
“No, he’s not,” Fox agreed, voice emotionless. Cody couldn’t help but grin.
“A little help!” Vos shouted as he was using the force to repel Bane’s flamethrower and keep it from burning him to a crisp.
It was at that moment that Obi-Wan had recovered and sent a wave of force energy to help dispel the flames, but when the fire cleared Bane was already in his ship that he had waiting. The Jedi had to jump out of the way to avoid being set on fire a second time, barely managing to dodge the ship as it rocketed away while Cody and Fox attempted to put a few dents in it to no avail.
Cody walked over to help his jetii up and heard the last parts of their conversation.
“… enjoyed hanging around with you,” Obi-Wan gave Vos a wry grin. Cody froze and his stomach dropped, but he snapped out of it when Fox shoved the butt of his blaster into the small of his back. He grunted a thank you and reached down to help Obi-Wan up.
“Why thank you, my dear,” Obi-Wan smiled at him, a little too close to be considered friendly . Neither moved for a second until Fox coughed, snapping them out of it.
“Well, Bane got away,” Vos said dryly.
“As always, thank you for your impeccable timing, Quinlan,” Obi-Wan responded in turn. “We’ll have to inform the Council of our findings.” He turned to Fox. “I’m assuming you can take care of the briefing for the Senate?”
His bucket was on, but Cody knew Fox rolled his eyes. “I’ve already informed them of our situation.”
“Already?” Obi-Wan asked, incredulous.
“I work fast,” Fox answered as if he was teaching one of the shinies how to clean their blaster.
“Yes he does,” Vos answered with an unknowable expression. “Also, Obi-Wan, old pal, I won’t be able to get back to the Council due to – uh – personal matters,” Vos interrupted quickly and Cody didn’t miss the way his eyes minutely flicked to Fox and back, causing Fox to go stiff as a board. If it were anybody else, they would have missed it.
Cody didn’t. Oh boy was this going straight into the comm chat the moment he was on a different planet than Fox.
Obi-Wan sighed. “I’m just shocked, truly,” his voice dripped with sarcasm. Vos grinned at him and headed back towards the ship. Fox knocked his knuckle against Cody’s shoulder and not-so-subtly shoved him towards Obi-Wan and quickened his pace to catch up to Vos, leaving Cody and his jetii alone.
Kriff that bastard he did this on purpose.
“Obi-Wan, sir – I,” Cody stopped when Obi-Wan looked at him. His mouth stopped working for a second and then he dumbly said, “I’m sorry for calling you by your name when you got taken by that snake in the swamp, I swear it won’t happen again – especially not in front of the shinies.”
He gulped.
Obi-Wan looked at him like he had gone crazy, but managed to stifle the smile in order for something more manageable. “Of course, Commander. It was a perfectly,” he chose his words carefully, “ normal thing to do.” By the end, Obi-Wan wasn’t even trying to hold the grin back.
“ Di’kut ,” Cody grumbled, but they walked all the way back to the ship without their shoulders separating, so Cody counted it as a win.
Fox and Vos were already arguing by the time that got back into the ship, so Cody figured everything had kind of gone back to some sort of normal.
“Let’s just get off this karking rock,” Fox let out an exasperated sigh.
“Aye-Aye, Captain,” Vos smirked at him.
“ Commander ,” Fox ground out.
“Aye-Aye, Comm-”
“Absolutely not,” Fox got up and moved to the back of the ship.
“Well, now I need a new co-pilot! Obi-Wan?” the more significantly annoying jetii questioned.
“If I must,” Obi-Wan sighed. “You boys know the emergency channel if something goes horribly wrong?” he asked, turning back to the clones.
Cody's mouth quirked just slightly and even Fox couldn’t resist rolling his eyes.
“Perfect, then. We’ll need them soon,” Obi-Wan grimaced as the ship let up off the ground.
Cody wasn’t sure what time it was on Coruscant, but it was definitely closer to 0001 hundred than 1200 hundred hours, so he couldn’t help but attempt to stifle a yawn when their small party walked down the boarding ramp into the cool breeze. It was different from Kamino, but Cody still loved the crisp morning air. It was one of his favorite feelings in the entire world. He didn’t have to worry about dead brothers or lost battles – it was one of nature’s finer gifts.
“This is where we part ways Obi ,” Vos sighed dramatically.
And there it went.
“Vos,” Obi-Wan’s voice turned icy, and Cody shuddered in response without meaning to. He had never seen Obi-Wan let anyone get under his skin like this, and it made him nauseated just thinking about it.
“Alright, Alright. It was good to see you, though,” Vos said as he hugged him tightly. “We need to do this more often.”
Cody was ready to go find his bunk and a bottle of scotch.
“Minus the bounty hunters, of course,” Vos grinned at him.
“Get out of here before I change my mind and force you to speak to the Council,” Obi-Wan grumbled good-naturedly.
With that, Quinlan Vos gave a lazy salute and was gone from Cody’s life as quickly as he had entered – like a midseason typhoon on Kamino.
Fox gave him a weary look, but walked over and pressed his vambrace against Cody’s before touching their foreheads together. “Don’t be stupid, Cod’ika ,” he whispered to his – barely – younger brother.
“You either,” he returned with a small smile, letting go so his brother could go get some rest. Or whatever the hell was about to happen with Quinlan Vos. At this point, Cody didn’t want to know.
Fox turned and saluted Obi-Wan who was so tired he didn’t even bother saluting back. “Goodnight, General,” Fox said brisk and gruff, before turning and heading the same direction Vos did.
That left Cody and Obi-Wan standing there waiting for words to come, but neither spoke. It wasn’t unusual; in fact, it was more often than not welcome between the two of them. That was part of the reason they got on so well – neither was the type of person that talked just to fill space. They enjoyed the silence together.
But there was an edge to this silence; something hung in the air between the two of them.
The both spoke at the same time.
“I-”
“Do you-”
They both stopped and looked at each other, flushed.
“You go first,” Cody smiled softly, batting away the nerves in his stomach.
Obi-Wan nodded in thanks but his smile was soft and it made Cody feel safe. “I must go talk to the Council and brief them about the state of our mission.”
Oh.
Cody’s heart sank a little into his stomach, but he kept his smile on. “Of course, General,” he said – the good little soldier.
There was a pause. Obi-Wan cleared his throat and hid his hands in his sleeves.
“But I was wondering if afterwards you would like to come share a cup of tea with me?” he asked, his eyes hopeful.
Cody’s heart shot back up from his stomach and landed higher than it should be – probably in the clouds somewhere if he had to guess.
“I would love that, sir,” he tried to stifle his smile.
“Obi-Wan,” he gently corrected. “We aren’t in front of the shinies,” he grinned when Cody groaned.
“Please don’t bring it up again,” Cody begged.
“Fine, but only for tonight,” his jetii laughed, and it set Cody’s whole body on fire as they headed towards the Jedi Temple.
Cody was startled awake from his position outside the antechamber of the Council room. Obi-Wan had told him it would only be a minute and Cody supposed it could’ve been, seeing how tired he was, but he doubted it. These Council meetings always ran unnecessarily long.
“What time is it?” Cody mumbled, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.
Obi-Wan looked at his comm and then looked back at Cody guiltily. “Oh dear, it’s about 0200 hours now.” That got Cody’s attention and he was now wide awake, attempting to stand and not let Obi-Wan notice the awkward crook in his neck he got from falling asleep against a wall.
“Do you want to cancel tea?” Obi-Wan asked, worriedly. “We can do it another time, if it’s too late.”
“No,” he answered a little too quickly, but recovered. “No, I’ve held out this long, I think I deserve some tea,” the clone grinned.
Obi-Wan beamed at him. “Excellent.”
They walked very close, hands brushing every now and then to Obi-Wan’s quarters in the temple. Cody didn’t know what he was expecting when he walked in, but it wasn’t… this.
He knew that the Jedi were strict about worldly possessions, but the tubes back in Kamino were more decorated than Obi-Wan’s apartment. The only things remotely resembling décor were three potted plants that his jetii had along his windowsill. One of which was a gift from Cody himself. It sent a wave of happiness through him to know that even though Obi-Wan wasn’t allowed to have much comfort, he still kept the plant Cody gave him.
“I know it’s not much, but it’s what I have,” Obi-Wan blushed profusely.
“No, I love it,” Cody said, catching his eye. He meant it, too. It may have been nearly barren of possessions, save for a few books and his plants, but for some reason there was an overwhelming sense of home .
His jetii smiled at that. “Well thank you. The plants sure help liven the place up a bit,” he winked and Cody blushed.
A few minutes had passed and they were settled on the couch that Obi-Wan had, grey and muted in color but incredibly soft, with two cups of earl gray. Cody didn’t really have a taste for much else and Obi-Wan was too tired to make another batch.
“So Vos was interesting,” Cody said, broaching the subject. He didn’t know what made him do it. Whether it was the lack of sleep, the overwhelming feeling of being home , or maybe Fox truly had found a way to spike his tea – either way, he had already opened up the conversation and he couldn’t back out now.
“Yes, that is one word for Quinlan,” Obi-Wan hid his smile in his tea, and suddenly Cody’s tea became very bitter.
“How did you two meet?”
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him.
“Obviously, the Order,” Cody – even as nervous as he was – managed to roll his eyes. “But how did you meet?”
“Well, we met when we were very, very young,” Obi-Wan smiled fondly.
So they have been together for a long time; that explains why they bicker like an old married couple.
“Ah, I see,” Cody said slowly. “So… how long have you two been together?”
Obi-Wan furrowed his brow. “Well, I can’t exactly recall the years. We were brought in at different times.” That was a confusing answer, to say the least.
“What?” Cody asked, setting down his tea and then picking it back up immediately. He needed the weight to ground him.
“In the crèche,” Obi-Wan explained. “We were crèchemates. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”
“What is a crèche?” Cody asked, beginning to get frustrated.
“Oh,” he smiled. “That’s where we’re confused. The crèche is like a nursery. It’s where we are raised until we get old enough to become padawans or move into other areas of work for the Jedi Order.” Cody still didn’t seem to be getting it, and Obi-Wan thought for a moment. “It’s like… oh! Of course,” he laughed to himself. “We were just around Fox all day today! Quinlan to me is like what Fox is to you.”
What . Cody’s mind started swimming in circles.
“So Quinlan was a crèchemate, so for you it would be like batchmates. So like Fox, Wolffe, Bly, Grey, or Ponds!”
Suddenly, the cogs began to turn in his mind.
“So you and Vos are like brothers?” he asked, at a loss for words.
“Yes,” Obi-Wan smiled at him. “Why?” he asked so innocently and now Cody understood everything.
“So you and Vos aren’t… together.”
Obi-Wan set his tea down and his forehead wrinkled. “I don’t know what you mean?”
“You two aren’t together. In a relationship,” Cody stated lamely.
Obi-Wan let out a full laugh that made the tips of Cody’s ears flush with a mix of embarrassment and relief. “Oh heavens no, Cody! I wouldn’t be caught dead with Quinlan that’d be like kriffing my brother that’s ridiculous. Why would you think that-” his breath caught in his throat when everything finally clicked.
“Oh,” he breathed out.
Yes .
“Cody,” Obi-Wan took Cody’s cup and set it on the table. He reached back over and grabbed his hands, slightly leaning forward into his space.
Cody met him halfway.
“Cody,” Obi-Wan tried again, intently. “I – Quinlan and I – no we are not together and never will be.”
Cody swallowed the lump in his throat. “I’m very, very glad to hear that.”
“Cody you almost said something earlier down on the landing platform earlier today. Do you – Do you want to try again?” he asked softly.
He nodded and blinked a few times to regain himself. “I’m,” Cody cleared his throat. “Obi-Wan I’m very… fond of you,” he whispered the last part.
“Why, I’m very fond of you too, my dear,” Obi-Wan grinned.
“No, Obi-Wan I’m very fond of you,” Cody tried again and this time Obi-Wan let go of one of his hands and cupped his cheek.
“Cody, my dear. I have been very fond of you since the first day I met you.”
Cody let in a small intake of breath when Obi-Wan’s fingers ghosted over his cheek. He subconsciously closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, not meaning to, but not backing away.
He would not back out this time.
Cody brought his hands up to mirror what Obi-Wan was doing on his face and his jetii closed his eyes and nuzzled into his palm, making Cody’s heart go higher than it had earlier today on the landing platform.
Obi-Wan opened his eyes and looked deeply into Cody’s, searching for something that seemed both far away and right in front of him. “Can I- May I kiss you?”
“ Gedet'ye cyar’ika .”
They both leaned in a fraction and their lips barely met, brushing softly until they finally met in the middle. It was soft and sweet and there was no rush. Kriff, they had taken their time to get here, they might as well take more of it.
Cody didn’t really know what a kiss should feel like, but he supposed that they were all supposed to feel like this. It was like the whole world was on fire, but the heat did not burn. He couldn’t describe it other than the fact that it felt like home .
When they parted for air, Obi-Wan rested his forehead on Cody’s and they looked at each other and suddenly Cody had something to fight for. They had something to fight for, and it was this – each other. The place they had they had just carved out in each other’s hearts.
Home .
He felt it in his bones just as he felt his reflexes in battle.
“Would you like to stay the night?” Obi-Wan croaked, his voice coarse.
Cody didn’t move, but his eyes grew wide. “I – Obi-Wan I’ve never done anything like – I don’t think I can even,” he hadn’t moved, but he was beginning to get jittery, and Obi-Wan cooed, soothing.
“I didn’t mean like that ,” he gave a nervous chuckle. “It’s 0400 and I figured it was too late for you to go back to the barracks.”
Cody let out a breath and nodded against Obi-Wan’s forehead. He wasn’t really sure what he would have done if Obi-Wan had intended what Cody assumed.
“I’m glad,” was followed by a relieved sigh from both parties. “Yes, I would love to stay the night.”
Cody would have liberated another thousand planets for the smile that Obi-Wan gave him; he could stare at that smile forever.
“Are you finished?” Obi-Wan gestured to his cup, breaking Cody out of his trance.
“Oh,” he blinked. He blushed, realizing he had been caught; but, given the way Obi-Wan was blushing too, he figured he was okay. “Yeah, I’m done.”
“Excellent,” he coughed, trying to hide his blush and grabbed Cody’s half-empty cup from the table. “You should take your armor off, it’s probably not too comfortable to sleep in,” Obi-Wan said nonchalantly over his shoulder, heading towards the small kitchen area to put the cups away.
Cody was taken aback by the brazenness, and it must have shown on his face because Obi-Wan quickly set the cups down and backtracked.
“I didn’t mean,” he stumbled on his words. “It wasn’t some sort of innuendo,” he managed to finally huff out, sheepishly. It was very unlike Obi-Wan.
Cody could feel the tension begin to fill the air and it did something sour to his stomach.
“It’s okay,” he answered his jetii somewhat lamely.
“Cody, I don’t want this to be awkward and I certainly do not want you to be uncomfortable. If you would rather go back to the barracks you are welcome to do so,” Obi-Wan finished a little wistfully.
“No!” Cody jumped up from the couch and answered a little too quickly to be casual, but he had no reason to be embarrassed anymore. “No, it’s not that, I just,” he let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding and slowly sank back down on Obi-Wan’s couch.
Well, now he was embarrassed.
“I just don't have a lot of experience in this area,” he finally managed to relent, looking at anything but Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan sat next to him and put a hand on his knee. “If it makes you feel any better my dear, I don’t have much, either,” he smiled uneasily at him.
Cody finally met his eyes. “Yes, I know you jetiise aren’t supposed to have attachments, but I mean in… other areas. Sexual, areas to be specific.”
Obi-Wan winced which caught Cody’s attention. He raised an eyebrow at his jetii .
Obi-Wan took a deep breath, which caused the strand of hair that Cody loved so much to fall in his face. “Cody there is something I should probably tell you.” He swallowed, and it made Cody nervous; he had never seen Obi-Wan physically nervous before.
Whatever this was, it was something sacred and fragile and it was scaring the karking hells out of Cody, but he had come too far to turn back now.
“You can tell me, cyar’ika ,” he whispered, smoothing the hair back that was falling into his face.
How he had longed for the day that he could do that.
“Cody I don’t… I don’t like sex,” Obi-Wan shuddered out.
There was a pause.
Things were slowly beginning to fall into place in Cody’s mind. Years of conversations where Cody had experienced flirting and innuendos suddenly became much, much more important.
He must have read Cody’s pause as something other than what it was because he continued elaborating. “Sex makes me uncomfortable,” he spoke, his voice barely a whisper. “I don’t really know why, I can’t explain it. It’s not you, I swear.”
He began picking up speed. “Kriff, it’s not you, I swear, I wish I could and if it would be for anyone it would be for you, but Cody I just can’t do it. I’ve been to the mind healers and they told me it was a normal feeling for some people but if you want to leave now because of it, that’s okay,” a long breath wracked his body and Cody saw the tears beginning to pool in the – usual – unbreakable façade. “I will give you everything else of me, but I cannot give you that and if you need that I am so sorry and I won’t stop you if you want to leave and-”
He was cut off by Cody kissing him again, smoothing a thumb over his eyebrow. He could taste the salt from the tears when he pulled back.
Obi-Wan was looking at him, confused.
“I’ve always wanted to do that,” Cody admitted with a small smile and Obi-Wan gave a small chuckle, shifting in the weight of the unanswered offer of the door.
“ Cyare ,” Cody said the word with such finality it made both of their breathing uneven and forced their hearts to their throats. “I have waited my whole life to find you. This is not going to stop me,” he smiled. “Besides, I’ve never even tried it before, so I don’t think it will be a problem.”
“Cody, that’s not fair,” Obi-Wan backed away just slightly and fast enough to be considered sharp to any other person. “What if you want to try it? That wouldn’t be fair to you or to me.”
“To be honest,” he pulled Obi-Wan back to him, sighing, “I’ve never had the desire to, anyway. I’ve never, well, you know,” he blushed and didn’t know how to say it.
It resulted in him making the crude gesture Boil had taught him, which caused Obi-Wan to snort.
“Really?” Obi-Wan asked, surprised.
“Yes,” Cody mulled it over in his head trying to think of his entire life and coming up empty. “Lots of other vod have, but I just… never have.” Obi-Wan opened his mouth to interject, but Cody stopped him. “And even if I do ever have the desire to try it, I know for certain that there are many ways to do that alone, without the need of a partner.” He knew that from the way the shinies complained every time they had to scrub the walls when they pulled latrine duty.
“I,” Obi-Wan paused, eyes uncertain.
“Obi-Wan,” Cody whispered, grabbing his attention. “I have waited my entire life to find my true home, but I didn’t realize until I met you that home is not a place, but it’s a person . So please, trust me and know that now that I have found you , I’m not giving you up.”
Obi-Wan waited a few beats before he began nodding slowly, a smile beginning to blossom on his face and crinkle his eyes the way Cody loved.
“Okay,” he whispered through a grin.
“Okay,” Cody spoke a little louder, nodding with him.
“Okay,” Obi-Wan laughed – that beautiful sound that he loved so much and Cody wanted to kiss him.
So – he did.
When they finally shuffled into Obi-Wan’s bed at 0542 hours and curled as close to each other as they possibly could, Cody ghosted his fingertips over Obi-Wan’s cheek.
“Home?” his jetii whispered into the darkness.
“Home,” he assured, their promise sealed into Obi-Wan’s shoulder as they both finally felt rest for the first time in a very long time.