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Obi Wan Kenobi leapt deftly over a crevice in the ground, twisting around midair to fire his blasters at the Weequay pirates. Ahead, he saw the edge of the cliff approaching much sooner than he would’ve liked, and he knew he was going to have to jump, whether he could see the ship or not.
Bane had better be ready. Obi Wan was putting a lot of trust in him, far too much for his liking when they had only been working together a few months. And a few months had given Obi Wan a lot of time to think about his decision.
It wasn’t Obi Wan Kenobi anymore. It was Rako Hardeen. He didn’t know what had come over him that night in the sniper nest, holding the rifle in his hand, knowing that his enemies as Obi Wan Kenobi had his back. He had freedom with them; no strict rules pressing down on him, no burden as general of an army. He had cracked his comm link with the butt of his rifle and thus severed his contact with the Jedi. They were all people, he had realized. Did the Jedi deserve to be betrayed like this? No. But neither did the bounty hunters. He had earned their trust, fought with them, and each had saved the other’s lives more than once. In that moment, he had craved more than the Order could give him. He knew it was selfish, but after dedicating his whole life prior to this moment to them and fighting in this godforsaken war for who knows how long, he thought he deserved a bit of selfishness.
As he raced across the barren ground toward the edge of that cliff, sweat trickling down his forehead and feeling the pressure of his lightsaber hidden under his vest, he thought of Anakin. A wave of pain washed over him; this had been a bad choice. He looked over his shoulder and fired his blaster back at the pirates again, allowing the Force to slightly guide his blasts to their mark. His insides squirmed. He still wasn’t comfortable killing, but if there weren’t at least a few casualties on his part after each job, raid, or mission, Bane would get suspicious.
Cad Bane. For some reason, the Duros had stuck with him after his debut undercover mission as Rako Hardeen. Initially he had insisted he only worked alone, but after he had saved Obi Wan’s life in the Box his mantra seemed to have been amended from “I only work alone” to “I only work with Hardeen.”
Surprisingly, Obi Wan liked the company, even if it was Bane. He had proved he was not only the coldhearted bounty hunter he portrayed on the outside, and while it was a bit sketchy, he did have a moral code.
Obi Wan’s moral code was slowly slipping away. Sure, there were some things he knew he would always hold important to him, like killing innocents and killing without reason, but other things, like passion instead of eternal peace, allowing his anger to drip into the Force and amplify his power, were becoming easier by the day.
He wondered what the Jedi were doing right now, if he was still fresh in their minds, if they believed they had done something wrong or if he was just another loss in war.
The pirates were closing in, the cliff only steps away. No time to stop, to turn around and fight, or maybe surrender. If Bane wasn’t there, Obi Wan supposed he had survived worse, and he had the Force to break his fall.
Anakin would jump, though perhaps he wouldn’t be running in the first place. Ahsoka would follow him, though if she ever believed they weren’t doing the right thing she would make her thoughts known.
His old master Qui-Gon would, on some whim, get the Weequays talking, inching ever closer to the edge of the cliff, and when he was sure the ship was there, would step dramatically off the edge and salute the pirates as he flew off to safety.
Obi Wan only had partial parts of these plans, and was starting to realize how much of a pain being a bounty hunter was. He didn’t have Anakin’s constant adrenaline and improvising attitude, didn’t have Ahsoka to tell him when he was doing wrong or have his back completely, and didn’t have that trust that Bane would have the ship waiting there for him that Qui-Gon would have, whether it was Bane or himself piloting the ship.
The cliff was there, no choice now…
Obi Wan gritted his teeth and flipped off the cliff.
And landed steadily on the front edge of the ship, Bane’s snarling face looking at him from the window shield.
Momentarily shocked, Obi Wan froze, but was jolted from his stupor when a blaster bolt hit the ship near his feet and Bane threw his hands up in the hair and pointed up at the top of the cliff, where the pirates were a much better shot now that they were standing still.
He almost pulled out his lightsaber, what a disaster that would have been. Instead, he ran up the wind shield and onto the roof of the ship, firing back at the pirates and leaping towards the tail—just as Bane started moving the ship. Obi Wan’s foot landed on the sleek, sloping edge of the tail and he tumbled, his fingertips grasping the edge of the metal as he hung on for dear life. At least he could see the ramp up into the ship now. It was open, but even with the Force, Obi Wan knew he wouldn’t make it. His fingers were starting to burn now, trying to keep their grip on the metal with the wind whipping past. Perhaps he could make it to the ramp—grab it with his hands, then he could pull himself up. What’s more—Bane could put the ship on autopilot and come help him, though hoping for that to happen would be like hoping the Clone Wars would end.
There was nothing for it. Obi Wan started swinging, at least as much as he could without his fingers slipping off the edge and plummeting to the ground. Then he let go, using the Force to propel himself forward towards the landing ramp, maybe a little too much.
His chest slammed into the end of the ramp, knocking the air out of his lungs and causing him to scramble to find a grip. His hands scraped against the rough material of the ramp, and he grunted at the pain, though he managed to find a grip, unfortunately in the same predicament as last time. At least he could actually pull himself up this time, though most of his strength was gone.
“Need a hand der?”
The scratchy sound of Bane’s voice did not lighten Obi Wan’s mood, but he thrust out his hand and allowed Bane to pull him up onto the landing ramp. They climbed into the cargo bay, and Obi Wan leaned back against one of the crates, sighing loudly.
“You were takin’ so long I thought dey hit you or you had fallen off,” Bane said, and Obi Wan glanced up at him, a look of feigned offense on his face.
“Me? So you really do care?”
“Now, don’t get hasty,” Bane growled. “You haven’t proved yourself quite yet.”
“I see,” Obi Wan replied, running a hand over his bald and tattooed head. “I lost my helmet to those pirates.”
“Stop whinin’, we’ll get you a new one.” Bane stood up and began to climb up the ladder into the cockpit; Obi Wan followed, groaning, and plopped down in the copilot’s chair.
Suddenly, a blast rocked the ship, and Obi Wan leapt up immediately, ready to run to the gunner. He looked down at the controls and saw the right engine flashing red—and four small red triangles tailing them.
“Dammit! Dey’ve followed us in ships! Must’ve put a tracker on dis here thing.” He pulled up a hologram of the ship and began running a scan to find the tracker, which Obi Wan took as a sign to get down and start shooting back.
He ran across the ship and leapt down into the gunner’s seat, firing green bolts back at their incoming red ones. Smoke spewed from the back of the ship, sparks flew, and every so often a lick of flame wrapped around the ship and let Obi Wan know that the damage was done, and they weren’t going to make it out of the atmosphere.
A muffled “Shit!” came from above, and Obi Wan stifled a chuckle as he blasted one of the pirates’ ships out of the air.
It wasn’t enough. Their ship shook, and the nose tilted toward the ground. Obi Wan had the sense to scramble out of the gunner station, which was hit by a blast soon after, and he staggered his way to the bridge only to get a nice view of the dusty, rock strewn ground before they hit and everything went flying.
Obi Wan opened his eyes immediately put a hand to his pounding head. It came away bloody, and he only prayed it wasn’t serious as he stood and looked around what used to be the bridge.
“Bane?” he coughed, his voice much weaker than he thought it was going to be. There was a faint groan from beneath one of the overturned seats and Obi Wan picked his way through the rubble over to him.
“Goddammit Hardeen,” Bane choked, wiping blood from a cut over his eyelid and snatching his hat from underneath a pile of rocks and dead circuits. “If we hadn’t spent so much time dawdling back der, we would have gotten away.”
“You’re blaming me?” Obi Wan said exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. “Figures.”
“Dose Weequay’ll be comin’ soon. Get me outta here.”
He pointed to the broken control panel and pile of rocks that had trapped his leg, and Obi Wan scowled.
“Yeah. Get me outta this mess Hardeen, so I can go find us another job that’ll get us killed!”
“Hey! We got dem outta their base. When we survive, we’ll get paid. Dat’s all I want.”
A thump from overhead made them start, and a layer of dust, rocks, broken glass, and Weequay pirates tumbled into the ruined bridge, guns blazing. Bane was defenseless and vulnerable, so Obi Wan did the only thing he could do keep them from both getting killed—he pulled out his lightsaber. The light filtered through the dust and gave the entire room an eerie blue glow as he batted the bolts back at the pirates and cut down the others. He Force pushed the other Weequay trying to climb in through the hole, and then used the Force to levitate the rocks and control panel off of Bane’s leg.
Silence, except for the hum of Obi Wan’s lightsaber.
Silence.
“I trusted you,” Bane whispered, his red eyes narrowing. “I trusted you, and you’re a damn Jedi? An’ lemme think. Sarcastic charm? Kenobi? Dat’s you, isn’t it? You led me on for months—“
“Bane, let me explain,” Obi Wan started, glancing nervously at the hole, both for more Weequays and for excaping quickly.
“No!” Bane growled. He stood up, and promptly fell into Obi Wan’s arms.
“Your leg’s broken,” Obi Wan stated coldly, but Bane pushed him off.
“Get off me!” he stumbled back into the broken control panels and winced as a severed wire sparked on his hand. “It was fer dat job, wasn’t it? Deh job to assassinate deh Chancellor? You went undercover for dat, and den dey must’a decided dey wanted you to tail me longer. Is dat what happened?”
Obi Wan deactivated his lightsaber, plunging them into hazy semidarkness. Before he could speak, however, Bane took advantage of the lightsaber being gone and unholstered the blaster on his thigh and fired at Obi Wan, who ducked out of the way and Force pushed Bane back against the control panel.
“You stop and listen to me. You’re only half right. I was commissioned by the Jedi to go undercover as a bounty hunter and stop your plot to assassinate the Chancellor. But this freedom, this life without restrictions and without the pressure of war was a strong lure. And working with you bounty hunters made me realize that you were people too. You weren’t just faceless villains without morals, hell, you saved my life. I saved yours. I couldn’t just betray you. These past few months I haven’t been Obi Wan Kenobi. I have been Rako Hardeen. Same person, same personality, but different rules. Different loyalties. You became friends with Obi Wan Kenobi as you became friends with Rako Hardeen. And I began to see you not as Cad Bane the notorious bounty hunter, but Cad Bane, the man who has a dark sense of humor, a twisted moral code, and is one of the rudest people I’ve ever met, but also, when he isn’t trying, can be a good friend too.”
Their faces were inches apart as they glared at each other, and after a moment’s hesitation, Obi Wan released the Force grip he had on Bane.
Neither of them moved, until Obi Wan snatched the blaster out of Bane’s hand and shot the Weequay who was trying to sneak up on them in the darkness. Reaching out with the Force, he could feel that Weequay’s cooling skin (which made him feel guilty), could feel Bane’s quick beating heart, could feel that expression in his eyes; the confusion, anger, betrayal, wanting to be able to trust him, but most of all, just wanting the truth and someone who actually liked him.
Bane’s shoulders slumped. He leaned his head forward to lean against Obi Wan’s chest and sighed, and Obi Wan, not sure of what to do, patted him on the back awkwardly, but as he relaxed into the Force, relaxed into the embrace, he wrapped his arms fully around Bane’s back and pulled him closer.
“I am sorry I didn’t trust you. I don’t completely trust myself with this new freedom, and haven’t decided yet what to do with it. Maybe I will go back to the Jedi, but I don’t know if they’ll allow me back. Maybe I’ll stay a bounty hunter with you and end up in a prison somewhere. Maybe I’ll leave, get these ridiculous prosthetics off, and live a simple life with the Force. I don’t know. What I do know is that you’re my friend, and I shouldn’t have betrayed your trust like I have. I suppose I’ve only learned trust in these past couple months.”
“Best thing I’ve ever heard one of you Jedi say,” Bane grunted, and he leaned back against the control panel again for balance as he stared at Obi Wan’s face. Obi Wan settled into the Force again, sorting out his feelings, and sensing Bane doing the same.
He also sensed another Weequay, sensed it just as Bane saw it, and the Duros leaned forward to grab his blaster and shoot it, placing a quick, though definitely intentional kiss on Obi Wan’s cheek.
Obi Wan looked startled. “Wha—what was that for?”
“Dat was me sayin’ I trust you enough at the moment to get us out of here, seeing as I’m incapable.”
He put his arm around Obi Wan’s shoulder and shot another Weequay, snarling as he was forced to put weight on his broken leg.
“What are we gonna do, Harde—Kenobi?”
Obi Wan activated his lightsaber again and relished the feeling of calm that came over him; it was nice to have his usual weapon back in hand.
“We’ll figure it out, we always do.” He thought for a moment, practically dragging Bane out of the hole in the hull of the ship. “The Weequay still have three ships.”
Bane tried to smirk but ended up baring his teeth. “Just hurry it up, I need a chair and a drink.”
Obi Wan rolled his eyes and blocked a bolt that came shooting toward them. “Shut up. I need to concentrate.”
“Isn’t shut up a bad word for you Jedi?”
“I’m not a Jedi any longer, am I?”
Bane didn’t respond.
Unfortunately, the Weequays seemed to understand their plan the minute Obi Wan started heading toward the ships. He groaned, urging Bane to move faster. They had to get there before they took off.
“Your arms aren’t broken, Bane, shoot them!”
“I’m a little preoccupied here!” Obi Wan glanced down; Bane’s leg was bleeding, his blood seeping through the fabric of his pants.
“Ah, shit,” Obi Wan muttered. “Then this is going to hurt.”
The three ships were launching, but Obi Wan was close enough to toss Bane up onto the landing ramp. He yelped in pain and clutched one of the struts, biting his lip so hard it drew more blood. Obi Wan reversed his grip on his lightsaber and stabbed the Weequay behind him, turning to block more bolts and allow the ship to get in the air.
“Hardeen! Get up here!”
Obi Wan Force jumped and landed lightly on the landing ramp and hauled Bane inside, giving him strict orders not to move though he knew he couldn’t.
He ran to the bridge and slashed at the Weequay in the captain’s chair, then took the controls and shot at the other two ships flanking him. They fired back but too late—Obi Wan did enough damage that they wouldn’t be following out of the atmosphere. He pushed the thruster as far forward as it would go, and the ship shot forward with an ominous noise. They just needed to get out of the atmosphere, almost there... He punched in coordinates and with a slight shudder they were plunged into hyperspace.
"Fuck," Obi Wan muttered as he felt a burning pain in his arm and noticed he must've been nicked by one of the pirates. He tried to ignore it as he skidded back into the cargo bay where he left Bane.
And a Weequay pirate.
Bane was using his jet packs, swerving away from the pirates shots. He had a blaster too, but aim seemed to be off as he concentrated on using the jet packs through the pain in his leg.
Obi Wan Force gripped the Weequay, lifting him high into the air before slamming him down on the ground. He scrambled to his feet, aiming for Obi Wan now, who pulled out his lightsaber and deflected the shot back at the pirate, and he collapsed.
"Took you long--arhg--enough," Bane said tightly.
"Do you ever do anything but complain?" Obi Wan asked as he squatted down to help Bane stand up. The bounty hunter growled again in response, but wrapped his arm around Obi Wan's shoulder.
"Just get me to deh med table, and den find me some alcohol. Dem Weequays must have some stashed on this ship."
Obi Wan dumped Bane in the painfully small med bay, poking at the medical droid. It sputtered to life with a few beeps and twirls, and then began speaking Weequay.
"Shit, how do I--change language, please."
"Please? I'll give you please--change yer damn language!"
The droid stopped moving, turning to Obi Wan and Bane. It muttered something, then began listing what they hoped were language options.
"There, dat one sounded like Basic."
As Bane spoke, the droid shook, then finally began speaking a language they understood.
"Hello. How may I assist you?" it said in Basic.
"Check for injuries," Obi Wan instructed. "I'm going back to the bridge, but I'll be back. Shout if you need anything."
"Don't forget about my drink!"
Shaking his head, Obi Wan walked back down the ship's main hallway, though he hesitated when he reached the ladder up to the bridge.
"I swear, I'm not--Bane..." Obi Wan hit his forehead against the rungs. "What's wrong with me?"
Muttering to himself, Obi Wan let go of the ladder and turned down another hallway toward the back of the ship, opening storage compartments as he went.
There was a bottle of something in the fourth compartment he searched, and one sniff told him it was a type of alcohol, and something strong at that. He headed back toward Bane, but hesitated again before entering the med bay.
Obi Wan didn't often feel like this, but he had been feeling more like this of late. He didn't like it... or so he thought. He'd felt it when he left the Order, and here it was again: a rush of adrenaline, of excitement, and guilt. He shouldn't be feeling these things, he'd spent his whole life training to avoid them. He shouldn't have left the place that fed him and kept him safe since he was a youngling. He shouldn't be feeling these things about Cad Bane.
Obi Wan corked the bottle and stepped into the med bay, tossing it to Bane when he looked up.
"You found some! Told you it wouldn't be difficult--Kenobi?"
Bane tried to stand up, but a combination of pain and the medical droid forced him back onto the table.
"Kenobi. Obi Wan."
Obi Wan seemed like he was in a far away place. His eyes had glazed over, and he was leaning heavily against the door frame. Bane took off his hat--which somehow he had retained--and threw it at Obi Wan in an attempt to snap him out of his trance.
"Obi Wan," Bane repeated, and the former Jedi finally turned to face him.
"My apologies. I need--no, do you need anything? I put in the coordinates for Batuu. We can meet our client there, get paid, and put this behind us."
"Ouch, watch where yer stickin' that," Bane said, momentarily distracted as he smacked the med droid on the head.
Obi Wan laughed under his breath as the droid cried out in confusion and waved its arms around to steady itself. He could help but be reminded of C-3PO, and the smile dropped from his face.
"What's wrong?" Bane's attention had returned to Obi Wan, and though his tone was exasperated, Obi Wan could see the concern in his expression. It made him feel better, and then worse.
"I need to meditate."
Bane scoffed. "You really haven't changed. I dunno how I didn't realize it was you sooner."
Obi Wan didn't respond, retreating back down the hallway until he found the tiny section of barracks. The first room smelled terrible, like sweat and alcohol and sex. He pressed the close button before the door had even slid fully open and turned to the next with a shudder. The second room was clean--if you would call the ragged blankets and squashed cots clean. But it didn't smell, so Obi Wan sat down gingerly on a cot, crossed his legs, and allowed himself to sink into the Force.
A strange calm spread over Obi Wan's body, the kind that relaxed the tension in his muscles but also brought all the emotions he'd pushed down in the past hour to rise to the surface. He took a deep breath, letting the stale air fill his lungs completely before releasing it. He took another, and let go of his confusion. Another, letting go of his guilt. Another, letting go of his fear and sadness and anger. He was not a Jedi any longer, and in this moment, he didn't want to be.
Acceptance. He accepted his new identity, and so did the Force. It seemed clearer, more one with him now than it had been in months. Perhaps he would return to the Jedi. Perhaps not. But right now, he was a man in a stolen ship relying on a seedy smuggler's money to get him his next meal and proper bed. He was a man who could protect people: his friends, civilians... Cad Bane.
No one would ever replace Anakin, or even Cody or Ahsoka or Mace or Adi Gallia. But his relationship with Bane was different. He wanted it to be different. Something new.
As he let these thoughts flow in and out of his mind, he felt a presence limp into the room.
"Did the medical droid discharge you?" Obi Wan asked, not opening his eyes.
"No. I can make my own damn choices."
"I know."
"What are you... meditatin' about?"
"You."
Obi Wan opened his eyes. Bane was sitting on the opposite bunk, pants ripped and bloody, shirt singed and dusty, and a exhausted expression written all over his face. He was lovely.
"What about me?"
Bane's voice was softer than usual; it was tired and wary and hopeful all at the same time. Obi Wan stood up and crossed the space to sit next to him, careful not to jostle his leg.
"Only good things."
Obi Wan leaned in and kissed him, relishing in the feeling of someone else's lips on his. He'd never kissed someone like this; he'd had his fair share of faux romances on missions and could still remember the sloppy kisses he'd shared with Satine when they were teens, but this was by far the best. Bane's hand rested on Obi Wan's thigh, gently pulling him in closer and deepening the kiss.
Why did it matter? Why did this matter? What was this going to make him feel? If anything, he now had another connection to the Force, one that he and Bane now shared. One that could help remind him why he was fighting for good.
"Didn't think you'd feel the same way," Bane murmured as he pulled away, eyes darting around between Obi Wan's lips and his chest and the bed they were sitting on.
"Me neither. And I don't think my brain allowed me to think about it, either. The Jedi teachings are still very ingrained in me."
"Well, we can start to change dat." Bane's hands found the hem of Obi Wan's shirt, not taking his eyes off his face, and he leaned in for another kiss, pushing Obi Wan back onto the bed, running his fingers up his chest and undoing all of the buttons. Obi Wan moaned into the kiss, his own hands trailing down Bane's back and grabbing the bottom of his shirt. He broke the kiss only long enough to pull it over his head, but stopped once he had a clear view of Bane's chest.
Scars peppered his blue skin in every shape and size, from knife slashes to circular blaster shots.
"Did you never have access to bacta patches?" Obi Wan asked, tracing over a particularly nasty like from the center of his chest down to his stomach. There were dozens of little ridges--the remnants of stitches, so he supposed not.
"We never had the credits for dat," Bane confirmed, but then he scoffed and pushed Obi Wan's shirt off his shoulders. "Like you're any better."
Obi Wan didn't have a response to that. He winced as Bane covered a blaster scar on his side; he remembered batting away blaster bolts with his lightsaber, and then laying on the ground, his side on fire. He remembered Cody's face--
Tears pricked the corners of Obi Wan's eyes, and but it wasn't guilt that washed over him this time. He missed Cody. Missed him dearly. He missed all of them.
"You okay? Do you need to stop?"
Instead of replying, Obi Wan hugged Bane, telling his mind to focus on their skin to skin contact instead of whatever Cody and Anakin and Ahsoka might be doing. What they must think of him.
"Can we just... sit?
"Yeah, yeah, sure."
They scooted back against the wall, arms pressed together, and sat in silence. Obi Wan hadn't realized how much he needed this kind of touch. He and Anakin often fell asleep like this after missions, too exhausted to even make it to their bunks. Cody grasped his arm to steady him after a close blast; Waxer and Boil were always near him during the trips down to the surface in the gunner ships. \
"Let's just take a little nap," Obi Wan suggested, laying down on the bunk and holding his arm out toward Bane, who knocked it out of the way and crawled behind him.
"I'm not gonna be the little spoon."
Obi Wan laughed. "I haven't really processed anything since I left the Temple. It's all hitting me now."
Bane's froze, arm hovering over Obi Wan's side. "Do you want to go back der?"
The concern in his voice almost made the tears leak down Obi Wan's cheeks. "I'm not going anywhere right now. I'm staying with you, I promise."
Bane let his arm drop, pulling Obi Wan into his chest. "Good."
"Do you... we both have a lot to explain, I think," Obi Wan said. "Do you want to go first?"
"I don't think you have the head space for my story," Bane said. "Later."
Obi Wan supposed that was true. He didn't want to fill his head with any more pain. He closed his eyes, snuggling even closer. "Later."
"What made you stay?" Bane muttered as Obi Wan was drifting off. "I know you said.. but you were one of der best, if not the best. How could you abandon dat?"
"It should be quite obvious now, Bane," Obi Wan said sleepily.
"You did."