Chapter Text
The mission had gone in the the worst direction imaginable. First, Obi-Wan and Anakin quickly found themselves outnumbered against the hoard of bounty hunters that surrounded them, and the last thing he remembered doing was telling Anakin to get down, before there was the familiar sensation of being stunned and then nothing at all.
The first thing that Obi-Wan realized when he woke up was that his head hurt. Well, everything hurt, but there was a special kind of headache that came with being stunned that Obi-Wan didn't particularly care for.
The second thing he noticed was that his hands and feet were not bound, but he was trapped in some kind of cell. It was dark, cold, damp and the air smelled like salt. The cell he was in had a steady rocking motion, up and down, that only seemed to exasperate his headache.
If he had to guess, he would have assumed that they were on some kind of ship. But not a space ship, a sea bearing ship, and by the looks of it, they had been placed in the brig.
Obi-Wan bit his lip as he looked down at Anakin, hoping that he had finally grown out of being seasick. There was no way they were going to be able to get out of this situation with Anakin needing to turn around and throw up every few minutes.
A weak groan startled him out of his thoughts, and Obi-Wan looked over to his side to watch as Anakin slowly pushed himself up off of the clammy ground, looking at his surroundings with eyes that were almost closed, but widened when he looked at Obi-Wan.
"Where are we?" Anakin asked as his voice cracked and he sat up, crossing his legs and leaning forward, placing his elbows on his thighs as he looked at Obi-Wan.
"In the brig of a ship, it seems," Obi-Wan replied, the sarcasm falling flat as he looked around at their surroundings. Above him was a window, carved out of the metal that the brig was made out of where light was streaming in.
But it was far to high for either of them to reach. And too small for either of them to crawl out of.
"What's our plan?" Anakin asked as he looked up at the window as well, before looking back down at Obi-Wan with a frown.
"We wait." Obi-Wan replied simply and Anakin groaned.
But soon enough, although neither of them were sure how much time had passed, they heard footsteps coming closer. Obi-Wan looked at Anakin, nodding his head and placing a finger over his lips before they stood on either side of the door, waiting to ambush the person who was coming.
They made quick work of it, and before the bounty hunter who came to check on them- a young chiss girl- could say anything, she was unconscious on the floor, her blaster in Anakin's right hand as he picked it up from the floor.
The boat rocked with a particularity hard motion, and the two of them stumbled, leaning against the wall for support.
"Please tell me you've grown out of being seasick," Obi-Wan said desperately as he looked at Anakin.
"We're gonna find out soon enough," Anakin replied with a shrug.
They quickly made their way through the lower levels of the ship, towards the deck and were soon met with an onslaught of blaster fire. Diving in opposite directions, Obi-Wan and Anakin each dove behind a set of crates for cover, wincing as several shots were too close for comfort.
"What's the plan?" Obi-Wan shouted over the blaster fire and Anakin looked back at him, eyes wild, the wind from the sea tossing his curls all around his head.
"We get out lightsabers and get out of here!" He shouted back.
Fortunately, Obi-Wan could see where their sabers were. Clipped onto the belt of the bounty hunter who stood at the center of the group that was shooting at them. His face was masked, but he wore what appeared to be a slimmed down version of Mandalorian armor.
That didn't comfort Obi-Wan in the slightest.
Using the Force, he reached out, despite the blaster fire, and summoned both his blade and Anakin's, tossing Anakin's blade to him once it reached his other hand.
Anakin caught it with a smirk and ignited it, then the two of them rushed forward, disarming as many of the bounty members as they could.
"Abandon ship!" One of them shouted over the commotion.
"The Republic is sending reinforcements!"
Anakin and Obi-Wan looked up in unison, sharing a smile that was short lived.
Explosions rocked the ship as the crewmates rushed to destroy any other evidence that they had- and there was several. Obi-Wan had seen several spice crates in the lower decks, and it seemed as though the bounty hunters of this ship were intent on not being caught red handed.
Which meant that they were going down with the ship as well.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted, but there was another explosion that blew him back, and almost into the water, separating him from Anakin.
Now, the deck was on fire, and Obi-Wan knew that despite the frigid temperatures of the water, he would have a better chance of survival if he dove down and swam towards the shore. He looked around one last time, through the smoke and the haze, but didn't see Anakin at all.
And then he jumped into the water, the shock from the cold making him gasp in shock. He relied on years of training to force his body to keep moving.
He needed to find Anakin.
Obi-Wan swam around, shouting for Anakin until his voice was hoarse and his body was tired. But he kept looking, looking and searching until he saw what appeared to be Anakin's arm, snagged onto a piece of scrap metal that was slowly sinking.
He swore and rushed forward, yanking Anakin's arm free and pulling him up from under the waves.
"No, no, no, no," Obi-Wan muttered as he shook Anakin's shoulders, treading water with his legs. Anakin's body was cold, his lips blue, and he wasn't moving.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelled in desperation, tilting his head and Anakin's eyes fluttered open with a gasp as he moved around to cough up the sea water that he had inhaled.
Obi-Wan winced as he heard Anakin cough and gag, looking out for something in the distance that he could use to support both of them, since he couldn't keep treading water like this for much longer.
He looked back at Anakin, who was now turned away from him, throwing up whatever else was left in his stomach.
"Finished?" Obi-Wan asked softly and Anakin nodded before turning around to look at Obi-Wan. Through the layers that Anakin wore, he could feel that he was trembling harshly. Obi-Wan could hear his teeth chattering and frowned.
For those moments where he had been swimming around, Anakin had been trapped, still, and under the water. Which meant that his body temperature had probably dropped, and there was probably still water in his lungs.
Obi-Wan looked around again. The shore was far- but not too far, and he could hear the roar of the gunships in the distance. The republic was looking for them, that was for sure. He looked back at Anakin, who was still pale and still shaking.
"Do you think you can swim?" Obi-Wan asked, knowing that they didn't have much of a choice. Anakin nodded anyway, and pulled himself away from Obi-Wan.
The two of them began to swim, the waves and the wind hitting their faces, making them numb. Obi-Wan tried to keep up a conversation with Anakin, to keep him distracted, to keep him talking, but his responses became smaller and smaller, until they were just small noises of agreement.
They had been moving slower and slower too, and Obi-Wan would turn around to see that Anakin seemed to look worse and worse with each passing moment, and the shore didn't seem to be getting any closer.
"Obi-Wan," Anakin groaned, and Obi-Wan turned around to hear more harsh coughing and then retching coming from Anakin.
He bit his lip. He thought that Anakin would have gotten rid of all of the salt water that he had swallowed at this point, but he seemed to be wrong. And Anakin seemed to be needing to stop more frequently.
"Here," Obi-Wan said as he grabbed Anakin's arm and pulled him forward, helping him swim.
But by the time the water was shallow enough for them to walk in, Obi-Wan was practically dragging Anakin towards the shore. Anakin wasn't shivering anymore, but his breathing was ragged, and his coughing was so harsh that each fit made Obi-Wan wince. When they collapsed on the beach, Obi-Wan relished in how the warm sun hit his skin, but the peaceful moment was interrupted by Anakin dry heaving again.
"You don't have anything left," Obi-Wan muttered softly as he rubbed soothing circles on Anakin's back.
He looked up again, and saw the gunships in the distance. They were getting closer, but Anakin was getting worse. He had collapsed into the sand, his eyes closed and his body trembling. His teeth chattered viciously, and Obi-Wan watched as Anakin curled up as tightly as he could, his hair sticking to his face.
"Help will be coming soon," Obi-Wan whispered soothingly as a shiver went down his spine as well.
Anakin coughed harshly in response.
The gunships were getting closer. Obi-Wan could tell from the way the roar of their engines seemed to grow louder with each passing second. But just like the sound of the gunships, Obi-Wan’s worry was increasing with each second as well.
Anakin had stopped responding to him. Now, when he asked a question, or even shook his shoulder, he got nothing at all from the person who was laying at his side. He had begged for Anakin to stay awake, his own voice weak with the cold and the strain it took to get them back onto land, but they were so close.
And he couldn’t lose Anakin now.
He looked up again when he heard the gunships hovering over them, shielding his eyes from the search lights as they descended down on to the beach, kicking up sand everywhere.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, shielding both his face and Anakin’s from the sand that whipped by.
He looked up as he heard footsteps approach, felt people's presence in the Force. There was one that stood out in particular, and Obi-Wan watched as Ahsoka rushed forward and knelt at Anakin's side, biting her lip as she also shook his shoulder gently.
But he didin't move, and she looked up at Obi-Wan, her eyes wide with worry.
"Master, you're shaking," she pointed out and Obi-Wan blinked.
He hadn't even noticed.
"Help me get Anakin to the gunship," he said instead as he slid an arm under Anakin's body, whose head lolled and rolled towards Obi-Wan's chest.
But his eyes didn't move at all, and his breath seemed to rattle in his chest.
Ahsoka nodded and helped him stand up, and the two of them bore Anakin's weight, practically dragging his feet through the sand as they approached the gunship that had landed not too far away.
Once inside, the medics took over and Obi-Wan let go of a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. Someone handed him a cloak- probably Ahsoka or maybe Cody, and the rest of the ride seemed to be a blur. That was until they got back to the cruiser, and both he and Anakin were ushered towards the medbay to be examined at once.
He had been told to rest, but his mind was restless as he looked over at Anakin, who he thought was awake, but he wasn't sure.
That was until he watched as Anakin began to twitch, and then his body was trembling and now he was sure that Anakin was awake because he was squeezing his eyes shut and his hands were balled up into fists.
"It's from the salt water he inhaled," Kix explained as he rushed over.
"Sodium imbalances can cause muscle spasms," he said quite calmly for someone who was tending to someone else who was practically convulsing next to them. But Kix quickly removed Anakin's glove and placed an IV needle in. How he was able to hold Anakin still enough to do that, Obi-Wan had no idea, but soon, the tremors subsided, and Anakin lay there, panting as he looked up at the ceiling, and then at Obi-Wan.
"Hey," Anakin said, his voice slurred and soft.
"By the Force," Obi-Wan muttered as he pinched his brow from where he was sitting.
"Glad to have you back with us, General Skywalker," Kix said with a smirk.