Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

~•~

Present day

~•~

Cody stood outside and looked up at the house in front of him.

It was cute. A little rundown maybe. The red brickwork was a little dirty but still very pretty and the garden was kind of overgrown but nothing near what you’d picture a house that was allegedly haunted to look like. This was merely a house owned by someone who did not have time for maintenance like that. It was nice though. A pretty normal location for a haunting. Everyone expects some relic from the Victorian era or maybe an abandoned asylum or something when they think of somewhere filled with ghosts but, at least in Cody's experience, ninty percent of the time it was just your everyday family home. 

“Should I grab the case or…?” Rex leaned against the side of the van, waiting for his brother's answer. He was still pretty new to this whole thing. He only had a few years of experience so he generally relied on Cody's judgment for the finer details.

“Nah," Cody said, glancing back at him. "We need to figure out who we’re actually dealing with first.”

They walked up the little path and climbed the steps to the front door. Cody knocked and within a few seconds, it opened. That’s when everything was flipped on its head. 

“Cody?" Obi Wan Kenobi stared back at him from the doorway, his face etched first with recognition and then surprise at him being there. "What are you doing here?"

Rex had no explanation for that kind of reaction. Obi Wan and Cody should be complete strangers but this did not give the impression that was the case. 

Cody looked down at his phone, making sure they had the right address.

“You called us?” He asked the man in front of him, completely caught off guard.

Obi Wan laughed nervously, visibly confused, looking between the two brothers. “Not that it isn't a pleasure to see you again but I’m fairly certain I didn’t."

~•~

About 17 hours earlier

~•~

“I don’t usually do anything like this.”

Obi Wan played with the edge of the tablecloth anxiously. He was totally out of his depth here. He was a fairly social person ordinarily and could get along with almost anyone but that didn’t mean he sought out situations where he had to get to know someone he’d never met before.

In all fairness, his date, who he’d known for approximately six minutes now outside of casually messaging each other for a few days, appeared to feel as out of place as he was.

“It’s okay. I don’t either,” said his date, a man slightly taller than him with thick, dark curly hair, golden eyes, and a scar that ran around his left eye. 

Cody Fett seemed super nice so far and it certainly didn’t hurt that he was pretty nice to look at so he wasn’t the reason Obi Wan was so on edge. This was just such a foreign environment for him.

Cody had been one of the first matches he had gotten on the damned dating app his darling sister had guilted him into signing up for but Obi Wan could swear he looked familiar from somewhere else. He just couldn't figure out where exactly.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Cody continued. “What exactly are you doing here then?”

“My sister pushed me into it,” Obi Wan said. “Not that I’m not enjoying the pleasure of your company. I think she thinks I’m some sort of hermit and she managed to wear me down. The reality is I simply don’t have the time for things like this very often but it seemed to mean a lot to her which is why I agreed.”

“Pretty similar situation with my brother. So what do you do that means you have so little time?” It wasn’t asked in a prying way or out of obligation to continue the conversation, which was the way small talk on first dates tended to go. Cody’s tone was light and his body language was very open, meaning there was no pressure to answer in detail if he didn’t want to, but Cody was genuinely interested in whatever information he was willing to divulge.

“Nothing impressive, I’m afraid.” said Obi Wan. “I’m still a student. I took a few years out because of some family issues and decided to come back.”

“What are you studying?” asked Cody.

“English Literature,” Obi Wan told him.

Cody smiled. “Sounds fun.”

“Oh definitely,” said Obi Wan with a laugh. “The actual subject is incredibly interesting but it’s a lot of work. But what about you? What do you do?”

“I sort of lucked into running the family business,” replied Cody, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Not happy about it?” Obi Wan asked. 

Cody shrugged. “No, I am. I really am. But it's a twenty-four-seven gig so it gets a little hard sometimes. Plus it would’ve been nice to have a choice, you know?” he said. “Sorry, that’s way too much information.”

“No, no. Not at all,” insisted Obi Wan, leaning a little closer to the table, feeling a little more at ease now. He'd been dreading tonight since casual dating really wasn't his thing but maybe he'd gotten lucky with who he'd ended up with.

From then on, they settled into a more comfortable conversation. Time passed and Obi Wan ended up finding talking to Cody a little too easy. There had to be a catch. He must secretly be a serial killer or something because Obi Wan couldn’t recall ever going on a date that had gone this smoothly in his life, not that he had much experience. His last attempt at dating had ended pretty badly. Not horrendously, but not great either. He was still good friends with Satine but their relationship had burned brightly and then burned out very quickly and it had taken a considerable amount of time for them to become friends without it being weird. That had been just under two years ago now and he’d made no attempt at dating since. In Satine’s defense, the death of Obi Wan’s father had pretty much put a halt to his entire life. It wasn’t her fault. He’d made sure she’d known that.

He didn’t tell Cody any of that. That would definitely be oversharing. 

There was something very calming about Cody. It wasn’t necessarily that he was actually a calm person, more that he seemed to be the same kind of highly strung that Obi Wan was, so they were on the same wavelength as each other in that regard. Too much responsibility dumped on them both at way too young of an age, that sort of thing. That could end up being a completely inaccurate assumption but Obi Wan liked to think he knew the look by now. 

Turns out, like Obi Wan, Cody had lost his father. That, and having to pick up the pieces of their families in the aftermath, had been a pretty core bonding point during the evening. The silent burden of the eldest child whose responsibility it was to keep their families from falling apart.

As the hours slipped by and they eventually reached the end of the night, Obi Wan surprised himself with how peaceful everything had been and what a good time he'd had. Perhaps Ahsoka had actually been right in encouraging this.

An even bigger surprise was that Obi Wan would love to do it again. It had been so long since he'd been able to spend time with someone who seemed so immediately compatible with him. He actually wasn't sure if he ever had. At no point, other than maybe in the first few minutes, did he feel any pressure to act or speak in a specific way. It had really been wonderful, he just didn’t have time to do it again, or so he convinced himself. Most of his time was spent worrying about how to balance classwork with regular work while also managing to raise his siblings and any free time he had was usually spent worrying about the fact that he wasn’t doing any of the previous things. It had been a miracle Ahsoka had even managed to convince him to go out in the first place. 

He could tell Cody liked him. Either that or he was the politest person in the world. He always looked interested in whatever Obi Wan was saying. He laughed in the appropriate places. He smiled. He asked questions. He was a perfect gentleman the entire time.

Obi Wan was quite certain he liked him too. Very much so. He was sure that, with time, they could actually be very good for each other. Time was just the issue though. Neither of them had much of it to spare it seemed. 

In all the conversation, Obi Wan had completely forgotten to ask what Cody actually did for work and he hadn’t offered that information freely. He just knew that, like Obi Wan, he didn’t get much of a chance to pursue interests outside of that work.

“I’d love to see you again,” Cody said to him finally as the time finally came to go their separate ways. “There’s no pressure at all though.”

“I’d like that a lot,” Obi Wan told him, smiling warmly. “Seems that we’re both busy people so can I text you and let you know? And I don’t say that simply to be polite when I have no intention of doing so. I really would like to see you again."

He didn’t want to outright say no. He found he didn't quite have it in him. It felt like he would be missing out on something special if he did, but that was just a gut feeling right now.

Cody smiled, seeming to accept that as an answer. “And you set realistic boundaries too. I'm starting to think you don't have any flaws."

Obi Wan looked away, his cheeks flushed. "I could say the same about you. Thank you for tonight, Cody."

~•~

Five weeks earlier

~•~

~•~

13 Hours before present day

~•~

“You look happy.”

Cody glanced up to see his brother Rex lingering in the doorway to his room. He'd eventually said goodbye to Obi Wan and then they'd parted ways and he'd only been back home for a few minutes. 

“It went well then?” Rex asked.

“Surprisingly, yeah,” he replied. “Super nice guy. We have a lot in common.”

“You're welcome for suggesting it then."

Rex was being shifty. Cody was about to say something about it when he spoke first.

“So listen…”

Cody fixed Rex with a scrutinous look.

“We got a call while you were out," Rex continued. "Family of three. They had a death in the family and one of the kids managed to summon something. They’ve seen full-body apparitions and what sounds like poltergeist activity too. We had a slot open tomorrow afternoon so I said we’d check it out. Their information is on your desk.”

Cody walked over, cautiously glancing at the note in his planner. Technically he had said that Rex was allowed to do that but something about his brother's demeanor was making him suspicious. 

"Why are you being weird right now?" He asked bluntly. Rex nearly choked.

"I just... I wanted to show you I could do it properly," he said quickly. Cody didn't completely buy it but he trusted Rex to not be irresponsible. He'd never let him down before so there wasn't any reason to suspect he'd start now. "I verified everything and it seems real."

"Okay," he said and saw Rex's shoulders sag with relief. Worst case scenario, it didn't work out and Rex would learn something from it. Cody was not the man his father was and he'd never put the same pressure on his brothers that was put on him. "Everything looks fine. We can check it out."

Rex nodded, praying his brother didn't somehow work out what he was hiding from him before tomorrow.

~•~

Present day

~•~

Cody stared at the information on his screen, before looking back to Obi Wan. “Your surname isn’t Jinn. Rex, why does this say-?”

“That was me!” Ahsoka called from behind, running up and standing in front of Obi Wan, giving Cody a very nervous smile. He was quite intimidating at first glance. “I made the call.”

“What is this about?” Obi Wan asked, noticing all the equipment and looking back at her just as Cody shot Rex a suspicious look.

"You guys know each other?" Ahsoka looked between them, taken aback.

"We met last night." Cody pinched the bridge of his nose, screwing up his eyes and grimacing slightly. Whatever was happening here was going to give him another migraine, he could already tell.

"Last... oh." Ahsoka's eyes widened as she realised. She looked at Rex and as their eyes met, they both came to the realisation that their weeks of planning had been completely turned on its head by a complete coincidence. They hadn't accounted for their brothers meeting beforehand because who in their right mind would've guessed that would've happened?

"You've got to be kidding me," Rex muttered, looking to see both Obi Wan and Cody giving them the exact same stern look. Fuck. Based on that look alone, they were a perfect match and if that was the case, then he and Ahsoka were totally screwed. There already wasn't much chance of convincing Cody to take a look at the house and convincing Obi Wan to allow it and this just complicated things much further. "I can explain this."

"We both can," Ahsoka said, walking over to stand beside him.

"You better start then," Cody said. 

Chapter Text

~•~

Four and a Half Weeks Earlier…

~•~

“So what exactly did you see Anakin do? If I want any chance of convincing Cody, I’m going to have to know everything.”

Rex and Ahsoka’s first real conversation had ended up being in person. A phone call just wasn’t going to work, mainly because Ahsoka didn’t want to risk having Anakin overhear and it was impossible to know when he would be at home these days. She loved her brother. She was also beginning to feel a little afraid of him.

She knew Obi Wan wouldn’t even dream of eavesdropping and respected her privacy too much to ask any questions, but having him out of the house for as long as she needed would make her feel better about it all.

Guilt followed her like a shadow with every step she took towards the place where she and Rex had agreed to meet, a cafe they both recognised which wasn’t too far from her school, but she just told herself that this was what was best for everyone in the long run. She had made an excuse about hanging out with her best friend after school ended today, especially since she knew Bariss would cover for her if she had to.

Rex was basically an apprentice. When his dad retired, he’d handed everything over to Cody. Rex might’ve only been 13 at the time but even he could tell Cody wasn’t entirely happy about it.

The first thing his brother did after receiving this new authority was inform every single member of the family that anyone who wanted out was more than welcome to leave. There would be no hard feelings. They may have been raised into this life but they did not have to stay part of it if it isn’t what they wanted.

Their father would never have allowed it and he was livid when he found out but there wasn’t much he could do because he died about seven months after. Thank god three of their other brothers were legally adults by then because Rex thought Cody might crack under the pressure if he had to do it all by himself.

Jango expected all of his children to contribute to the family business so they’d all grown up learning the craft and no one had ended up leaving, at least not yet. Some of the younger kids might when they grow up but the oldest of them stuck together. It was just Cody, Wolffe, Fox and Bly running things right now, although they all technically still answered to Cody who was the oldest.

In the end, it hadn’t been a spirit or a demon that had taken Jango out. Just health complications. Nothing anyone could do. It was a stressful line of work and he was pretty old.

He didn’t stick around after he was gone. No one had expected him to.

“Have you tried that before?” Ahsoka asked. “To convince him to take a case he knew he shouldn’t?”

Rex nodded, pressing his lips together. “Yeah.”

“Has it ever worked?”

“Nope.”

“Great.” Ahsoka slouched back in her seat, letting her head fall back against the padded back. “Well, I’m at least glad you’re here right now.”

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, shaking off some of the frustration.

“So… tell me about Obi Wan,” Rex suggested. “How does he fit into this?”

Ahsoka shuffled in her seat, hugging her arms close to her body, suddenly serious. “He really took our dad’s death hard. That’s where it all started because when Qui Gon died, Obi Wan changed.”

Rex tilted his head at her curiously. “Changed?”

“It wasn’t that surprising,” said Ahsoka, shrugging. “He’d known Qui Gon longer than anyone. He was adopted when he was basically a baby. Anakin was nine and I was twelve. Obi Wan was always sort of serious compared to Anakin but he basically completely stopped smiling after Qui Gon died. He’s stressed pretty much all the time which doesn’t help but I feel like he does it to himself. Ani and I try and help when we can, or Anakin used to, but it’s not fair that he has to deal with us and work and study. He doesn’t even need to work either. Qui Gon’s dad was super well off or something when he was still alive. Like old-money, Knives Out rich. I don’t know the specifics but the inheritance Obi Wan received was way more than enough but I think he’s just scared something might happen. Like if he’s not actively doing something then he isn’t actually helping us. Now all of this stuff with Anakin is making it even harder for him and I’m really worried something bad will end up happening to him. Being stressed for that long can’t be healthy.”

“And what about Anakin?” asked Rex, making sure it was abundantly clear to her that he was listening intently. He knew a thing or two about grief, in fact basically his family’s entire livelihood revolved around it, so he was pretty good at making sure people felt like they were being listened to. Sometimes that was the most important part of the job, particularly in cases where a client’s residence ended up not actually being haunted. It had happened pretty often. It was crazy what grief could make people see, so sometimes just making them feel heard is exactly what they needed. Cody was really good at that. He’d always been good, so Rex tried to mimic him as much as possible. He also was genuinely curious. He and Anakin had been friends for quite a while. “I always wondered what happened. He just stopped talking to everyone at school. I knew your dad passed away and he probably just needed time but then he dropped out and stopped replying to texts.”

“He cut himself off from us too but I guess he was lonely at the same time. I tried to talk to him but it didn’t work. He has Padmé, his girlfriend. I think he listens to her but I can’t really tell. I guess he needs a dad or something.” Ahsoka’s gaze lowered as she spoke, like she felt the same but didn’t want to say it out loud. “His mother died a while ago and Qui Gon took him in so he’s the only father figure he’s ever really had. At first he tried to force Obi Wan into that role but it didn’t work because how could it? He isn’t his dad. Qui Gon was.”

She trailed off for a moment, looking slightly embarrassed about how much she’d just shared with someone who was virtually a stranger.

"Anyway, Anakin’s a dumbass,” she continued after clearing her throat awkwardly. “That’s the first thing you should know. He's been through a lot but man does he make bad decisions. I’m pretty sure he did it as a joke, like he didn’t think it would actually work, but still. Qui Gon was always big on meditation and stuff. You know, finding inner peace and that sort of thing and he was super into the spiritual side of it. He made us do it with him and I guess that idea rubbed off on Anakin or something. You know, the idea that there’s something after.”

Ahsoka said the words with a bitter edge to her voice. She obviously believed in that type of thing too, or she wouldn’t be here, but it didn’t bring her the kind of comfort it ought to.

“So what did he do?” asked Rex, sparing her from having to continue. “Beyond what you’ve told me.”

“I don’t know exactly,” answered Ahsoka. “I just walked in on him with a Oujia board a few months ago. He kinda jumped when he saw me and took his hands off the board. I asked him what he was doing but then the thing flew off. The thing with the hole in it.”

Rex groaned rolling his eyes. “How many shitty horror movies have to be made before people stop fucking with things like that?”

Ahsoka laughed. “Right? Like even when I didn’t believe, I still didn’t try and provoke anything. I’m not trying to get dragged to hell or whatever.”

Rex grinned at her. “I’ve never heard of anyone getting literally dragged to hell, but it definitely doesn’t end well sometimes.”

“Have you ever seen anything really scary?” asked Ahsoka, leaning closer curiously.

“Not really,” said Rex. “I mean I’ve had a few things thrown at me but Cody doesn’t let me near the really intense stuff. Dad was super tough on him and it nearly got him killed once. He’s got this huge scar near his eye and he won’t talk about it but I know it’s from a case nearly ten years ago.”

“How do you know?” Ahsoka looked at him with wide eyes.

“I might’ve snuck a look at the case file when Cody wasn’t looking,” admitted Rex. “Kinda wish I hadn’t. There were pictures and it was horrible.”

“Pictures?!” Ahsoka looked horrified just at the concept.

“Yeah, dad always made sure to document everything,” Rex replied, not even attempting to hide the resentment in his voice. “So I get why Cody doesn’t want me to come along all the time. He’s only just started letting me come along after years of me asking so we need to make sure this works. I need to actually see for myself so I know we have a strong case.”

Ahsoka sighed, nodding. “It’s gonna be hard to convince Obi Wan to leave. I know I said he’s always busy but he doesn’t go out otherwise. How long do you need? Maybe you can come over when he has a class.”

“Well, we’ll need to get them both out of the house first,” Rex explained.

“Both?” Ahsoka gave him a confused look.

“Yeah,” said Rex. “Obi Wan so I can come over and look around without it seeming weird, Cody so I can actually take some of the equipment without him realising. I need to take it out and have it back before he returns. He's super strict about it.”

“Crap.”

“Yeah.”

~•~
Present Day
~•~

“What?!”

Obi Wan’s mouth hung open in shock while Cody gave them a stare so intense it could probably melt through steel. Rex and Ahsoka exchanged a guilty look, feeling like they were being scolded by two parents at the same time.

“So, if I have this right, you tricked us both into being out at the same time and the best idea you came up with was a date?” As Cody spoke, Rex couldn’t tell if he was more upset about the actual lie or how retrospectively convoluted the lie had been.

“I can’t even begin to express how incredibly manipulative that is,” Obi Wan said. “Also it relies on pure luck. It is complete chance that it even worked. I should have known something was off.”

“You should know better, Rex. We have the rules in place for a reason. You can’t just go into someone’s house,” Cody felt completely mortified as he looked at Obi Wan. ”I am so sorry for this.”

“It’s quite alright,” Obi Wan insisted but his face betrayed his true feelings.

“Come on, Cody,” Rex said desperately. “You can feel how weird it is in here. There’s something wrong. I needed to make sure there was really something because I knew you’d never do it otherwise.”

“There are rules for a reason,” Cody reiterated. “It’s a complete violation of privacy and consent.”

“I’m sorry, Obi, but you never would’ve considered it and it’s getting harder and harder to live here,” Ahsoka said, her voice wavering. “Plus I wasn’t lying when I said you should go on a date or something. It was two good things at once. You haven’t gone out with anyone in a really long time and-”

“That is not an excuse for deceiving us both,” said Obi Wan, his tone sterner than Ahsoka had heard it in years. “You must’ve planned this for weeks.”

“Doesn’t that show you how serious we are?” Ahsoka tried to point out.

“I just needed to get you here so you could see,” Rex added. “I wrote a whole report for you to read when we get back. I even had Bly spellcheck.”

“You got Bly involved? Okay, we’ve taken up enough of your time. Rex, let’s go.” Cody said, already making his way over to the door.

Rex stared despairingly as Ahsoka grabbed onto his hand as if it would keep him there. “But Cody-”

“Now,” Cody said, his tone commanding. He wasn't just mad about how unethical it all was, although that was his main concern. It’s also because he really liked Obi Wan and now he wasn’t sure if he’d ever even be able to have another conversation with him.

Rex gave Ahsoka an apologetic look before letting go of her hand and following his brother.

Ahsoka ran after them, stepping in front of Cody just before he got to the door so he couldn’t leave. “Are you really not even going to look?”

Her eyes were damp and she clenched her jaw from the effort it was taking to not cry out of frustration. Cody’s heart sank because he’d seen that look quite a few times before, but mostly when Jango was still in charge.

“I can’t. I’m sorry,” he said to her, his voice much softer, meaning it sincerely.

Ahsoka let her head hang, tears dropping from her eyes into the carpet. “I don’t know what else to do.”

Her voice was utterly hopeless and it almost physically hurt Cody to witness.

“We can’t even have a look? Codes, we can’t just leave them.” Rex looked at him with pleading eyes.

“How much would it cost?” All three of them turn to look at Obi Wan in surprise. He stood apart from them, pinching the bridge of his nose, evidently still very annoyed but he really didn’t want Ahsoka to be upset either.

Rex opened his mouth to speak but Cody cut him off. “Nothing. We defintely wouldn't be charging you a thing for the consultation. As an apology.”

Obi Wan sighed heavily, screwing up his eyes for a moment. He could already feel a headache coming on. “Alright. It can’t hurt, I suppose.”

Cody gave him a look that was full of regret, then turned to his brother. “Alright. Go and start bringing things in.”

Rex immediately nodded, looking like he can’t believe it worked.

“You know, you really don’t have to go through with this,” Cody said to Obi Wan. softening his voice.

Obi Wan looked from him over to Ahsoka. She was wiping her eyes and facing slightly away from them, trying to calm herself down.

“No, I do,” he replied, keeping his voice low. “If only to let her get it out of her system. I had no idea this is what you did. I should’ve asked. That was terribly disrespectful of me.”

Cody laughed slightly. “No, don’t worry about that. It’s something I generally try to avoid bringing up the first time I meet someone.”

“Well, I wouldn’t have mocked you. I’d like you to know that,” Obi Wan promised. Cody looked at him and saw how earnest he was and felt some of the tension leave his body. He could see how uncomfortable this was already making Obi Wan and he was immensely grateful for how polite he was being despite that.

“I know you wouldn’t have,” Cody said to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. The gesture seemed to make Obi Wan slightly less apprehensive, although only slightly. “This’ll be as quick as possible. I promise. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to make this easier for you.”

Obi Wan gave him a slightly somber smile. “You’re very kind.”

That’s when Rex returned carrying a reinforced silver case.

“We’ll just need this won’t we?” He asked.

“Yeah, just leave everything else,” he told him, taking the case from him. “Go lock up.”

Rex nodded, running back out the door immediately.

“You didn’t mention you had kids,” Cody mentioned as he set the case down on the table in the living room. “Awfully young to have a teenager, aren’t you?”

Obi Wan smiled bashfully. “Those would be the sister I mentioned.”

“And you don’t have the same surname?”

“Jinn was my father’s name,” Obi Wan told him. “He kept our surnames when he adopted us but I only really use mine on a personal level. All of my legal documentation says Jinn but he wanted to give us all the option of keeping our own identities. Ahsoka uses Jinn. I don’t think Anakin does. It’s hard to keep up with what he’s doing these days.”

“He uses Skywalker,” Ahsoka said, joining them at the table, still rather sheepish. “Only because he thinks no one notices though.”

“I see.” Obi Wan’s shoulders sagged just a little more than they already were. Ahsoka noticed his mood slip even further and scrambled to come up with a distraction.

“So, uh, what is this stuff?” She asked Cody, trying to change the subject. He caught onto what she was getting at, eyes flitting from her to Obi Wan, and immediately went along with it.

“Pretty basic stuff,” he said, taking a few things out. “We have more intense equipment for more extreme cases but today we just want to figure out where you guys are at, if there’s actually anything here, if there is then what it is. That sort of thing.”

“What it is?” Obi Wan looked at him.

“The type of spirit,” Cody explained. “They can appear in a lot of different ways. I’m sure you’ve heard of a poltergeist, the ones that can interact with their environment. Knock things over or move them. Stuff like that. But there’s way more to it than that. It’s sort of like a spectrum. They could just appear as nothing more than a strange blemish in a photograph or an odd cold spot where there shouldn’t be one, but on the other end people have seen full body apparitions and have been able to speak directly to the spirit without the aid of equipment. It all comes down to a few things. Some people just naturally have a stronger connection to the spirit world so they’re more likely to see things. There’s also your personal connection to the spirit. That’ll help it stay tethered to this world more easily. The strength of your belief can be a factor too.”

“It could also be malevolent!” Rex added after coming back into the house and closing the door behind him, joining them around the table. “The whole ‘unfinished business’ trope is actually pretty true but sometimes they’re actually just really bad people who get left behind and their unfinished business is to cause some kind of harm. And that’s not even accounting for demons-”

“But there’s no reason to suspect anything that bad just yet,” Cody interrupted as he saw Ahsoka’s face pale. “We should just have a look around first.”

“Better get started then,” Obi Wan said.

The landing and hallway at the top of the stairs was dark even in the daytime. The stairs creaked under their feet as the four of them ascended, Ahsoka in the front. They were the kind of stairs which would make it impossible to sneak downstairs in the middle of the night without waking up the entire house.

“You said something was here, right?” prompted Rex, standing slightly behind Ahsoka, recalling the last time he'd been here, however brief the visit had been. He’d decided it would be wise to take a step back and just let Cody work, not wanting to cross any more lines than he already had today but he would help Ahsoka out if she needed it. It was easy to forget in all the chaos just how young she was.

She paused at the top of the stairs, reluctant to move forward and Cody saw her staring straight ahead and tried to see where she was looking. Her gaze would burn a hole through Obi Wan’s bedroom door if it could. He put a hand on her shoulder to remind her she was safe.

“I saw someone there,” She whispered and Obi Wan peered up at her in alarm. “Last week.”

“What?”

“I woke up really early once and got up and there was a person standing outside your door.” She looked up at Cody with big, scared eyes. “They disappeared right after I saw them. Sort of out of the corner of my eye.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” asked Obi Wan, appearing slightly dumbfounded.

“You would’ve just told me I was dreaming or something!” She said defensively, her voice still hushed like she was worried something might hear her. “Plus I couldn’t really see them. It was too dark but I know there was someone there. I’ve never seen anything that bad before.”

“What did they look like?” Cody asked her quietly.

“Sort of blurry I guess,” she replied. “Really dark, I couldn’t see any features or a face. They were looking right at Obi Wan’s door like they wanted to go in.”

Obi Wan shifted uncomfortably at the thought.

Cody let go of her and walked over to the doorway, holding the EMF reader near the door. It immediately went off.

“Shit,” he muttered.

“More bad news?” Obi Wan asked, a slight sarcastic edge to his voice.

“Define bad,” Cody said. “Rex, that’s a level four.”

Rex scribbled that down in the notebook he had with him. “You know, shadow figures aren’t that uncommon.”

Obi Wan walked further up the stairs so he could put his arm around Ahsoka’s shoulders. “What does level four mean?”

“It’s the second highest level,” Rex said, watching as Cody frowned at the door, taking the thermal imaging camera and holding it up.

“There’s definitely something here,” Cody said as he looked into the camera. “Can I open the door?”

He looked to Obi Wan for permission, who nodded begrudgingly. With that Cody lightly gripped the doorknob and turned it, letting it slowly swing open. The room inside was dark and when Cody looked into the camera, there was nothing unusual.

“Huh,” he was slightly perplexed, deciding it was probably just residual energy from what Ahsoka had seen. “So when you saw it, it stopped right outside?”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka said. “I just pretended not to see them and they went away. It’s what I always do.”

Unlike just outside on the landing, Obi Wan’s room was surprisingly quiet. It was also immaculately tidy.

“Huh… Codes, check this out.” Rex held his own EMF reader towards the wall, near the door, where it started screaming, and then he slowly moved his arm and walked right to where the end of the bed was in the centre. It stopped.

Cody frowned at it, shooting a curious glance at Obi Wan, taking his own reader and beginning to walk around the sides of the room. The exact same thing happened.

“Is there really nothing you can think of that might be a little out of the ordinary?” Cody asked. Obi Wan just shrugged.

“I wouldn’t know what to look for,” he insisted.

“Okay,” Cody said, accepting it as an answer although he didn’t quite believe it. He looked into the thermal camera again, moving it slowly around the room. There wasn’t much of anything for the most part but then he got closer to the doorway and felt the blood drain from his face. “Uh…Rex? Come here for a second.”

Rex knew his brother too well to not recognise what that look on his face meant. He came over and peered at the camera.

“Oh shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Obi Wan asked, starting to sound nervous as well despite his insistence on skepticism. Ahsoka came over to Cody’s side and looked, gasping.

“That’s… that’s the…” she stammered, panic flooding through her. “It’s the same thing. That’s what- I saw it last…”

Rex took Ahsoka’s hand, squeezing it.

“May I?” Obi Wan asked politely, looking over Cody’s shoulder. “What am I looking- oh...”

In the doorway, clearly visibly on the infrared camera, was the outline of a person. It wasn’t a whole person and it wasn’t like they were completely there, but it was a person all the same. A blurry figure. They could make out a head and shoulders clearly.

“Why isn’t it coming in?” Ahsoka whispered.

“Good question,” Cody replied.

“That can’t be-” Obi Wan began, laughing in disbelief as he looked at it. “I mean surely-”

Then he looked at the other three and saw how sobering their expressions were. Even Cody looked visibly worried.

“Nevermind then.”

“It isn’t necessarily malevolent,” Rex told Ahsoka, feeling her hand shake in his hold. “It’s just a spirit of some kind.”

“Then why isn’t it allowed to come in here?” Ahsoka asked again, not looking convinced at all.

Rex didn’t answer. She had him there.

“So this is why I caught you tidying your room this morning,” Obi Wan remarked when they walked in, staring at how clean the place was for once. “I should’ve known something was wrong immediately.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, sitting on the end of the bed.

“Talk to me,” Cody said, sitting down next to her. “What’s happened here?”

“Nothing that bad,” she replied. “A lot of bad dreams mostly.”

“What kind?” Cody asked, as Rex began to survey the room, using his EMF reader, which would sporadically go off here and there.

“I can’t move sometimes and it feels like there’s someone in my room,” she said. “And a lot of my dreams take place in here too. There’s always someone looking at me.”

Obi Wan’s face flashed with concern. “Ahsoka…”

Ahsoka looked at her brother guiltily. “This is why I didn’t want you to know. You’ll just find a way to blame yourself for it or something.”

“But if this is a sign that’s something wrong then there are people we can talk to,” he said, sitting beside her.

“I don’t need a therapist,” she insisted curtly, making it clear that this wasn’t the first time this had come up in conversation.

“It’s not always a bad idea,” Cody pointed out. “It doesn’t make what you’re seeing any less real. It just gives you someone you can talk to about it.”

“They’ll never believe me though,” Ahsoka said, dejectedly.

“Well, I know a few professionals who would. I can pass the numbers over to your brother if you change your mind,” Cody suggested. Obi Wan didn’t look too pleased about the idea. “As long as it’s okay, of course. How about you tell me about some of these dreams.”

Ahsoka thought for a few minutes before she answered, her eyes following Rex as he continued to examine the room, periodically writing in his notebook. “Well, it was too hot once and so I pulled the covers down and later I felt someone scratch along my neck.”

She dragged the tip of her index finger across the side of her throat to illustrate what she meant.

“I thought Anakin came in another time. He sat down beside me and choked me,” she continued. “It wasn’t him though. I think it might’ve been a dream but I’ve never had anything like that before this started happening. They were just tall, that’s why I thought it was him I think.”

“How frequently does it happen?” Rex asked, peering back at her from the corner of the room.

“Once a week maybe?” She estimated. “My dreams are super lucid too but if I just pretend none of it happens, it usually goes away. The first time was super scary but now I just close me eyes and wait for it to be over.

The entire time she spoke, the look on Obi Wan’s face could only be described as completely disturbed. Cody got the impression he knew more than he was letting on.

The door to Anakin’s room opened silently. There wasn’t a sound to be heard from inside and the darkness seemed to spill out into the hallway. It was a teenager’s bedroom. It had no business looking so eerie.

Cody clicked on his flashlight, shining it into the room, wary of the other three standing closely behind him.

“He won’t be back till tonight,” Ahsoka said. “If he comes back at all. He’s with Padme most days. Sometimes she comes here, most times he goes to her.”

“And it’s always worse when he is here?” Cody asked, glancing back at her. Ahsoka nodded. He looked over to Obi Wan. “Noticed anything strange involving Anakin?”

“No,” he answered shortly, but it looked like he doubted himself midway through saying it. “Well, I suppose. He’s certainly been more temperamental these last few months but I assumed it was just down to his age, as well as everything else that’s been happening. He’s lost two parents. I just wanted to give him the tme and space he needs.”

Cody took one step closer and his EMF reader went insane. He stared at it in shock. “Stay out here, you two. Rex, you as well.”

Rex was about to complain when Cody shot him a fierce look. He glowered at him but did what he was told. Cody always had a good reason for doing the things he did.

“Do we have to?” Ahsoka asked, looking over her shoulder at the doorway to Obi Wan’s room, fearful that whatever had been there before might still be nearby.

“It would probably be best,” Cody said, holding the reader just within the doorway. It was so loud it sounded like it might explode.

Obi Wan draped his arms around his sister, holding her protectively. He was starting to get annoyed for an entirely different reason. He didn’t want to see Ahsoka get progressively more and more upset although even he couldn’t deny that the high pitched screech coming from the EMF reader was weird.

Cody flipped on the light and took a step into the room. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary. There were clothes on the floor and the bed was unmade but nothing strange. Just a regular bedroom.

He made a quick circuit around the room with the EMF reader and it stayed at a strong five the entire time. The noise got to be so unbearable that he ended up having to turn it off for the sake of all of their hearing. He knew what readings like that could mean. He hadn’t heard anything like that since… well it had been a long time.

The infrared camera was a little easier. As he scanned it around the room, there seemed to be unusual patches of space that were much, much colder and that was saying something considering the entire room already felt like a walk-in freezer. These cold patches seemed to be clustered particularly close to the full length mirror in the corner of the room.

“Ahsoka?” Cody called out into the hallway. “You walked in on Anakin, right?”

Ahsoka didn’t seem to want to come any closer, staying near to Obi Wan, so she called back just out of his line of sight. “Yeah?”

“Where was he?”

“Like where in the room?”

“Yeah.”

“Kinda in the corner. Near the-”

“The mirror?”

She didn’t answer immediately, but it told Cody everything he needed to know.

“Is that bad?” She called back.

“Depends.”

“Oh god, what did Anakin do?” Obi Wan could be heard asking.

“I'll tell you later,” came Ahsoka's reply.

“Cody,” Rex said from the doorway. He chucked something at him which Cody caught out of the air. “We could leave it in here while we check out the rest of the house.”

Cody glanced around the room, deciding where to put the audio recorder Rex had just tossed him.

“It’s just a digital recorder,” he heard Rex explain to the other two. “It’s modified so it picks up EVP- oh, they're spirit voices basically.”

After placing it on the floor, close to the foot of the bed, Cody took one last look before he retreated back towards the door. As he did, he still had the infrared camera in his hand and it happened to swing across the doorway and something he saw made him stop where he was.

“Everything okay?” Obi Wan asked. Cody was torn between telling the truth and lying to them both, feeling his heart begin to race.

The figure from before was back but it had moved now. Now it was standing right over Obi Wan’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Cody lied, lowering the camera, vowing to tell them both the truth later. Ahsoka was visibly frightened and as long as they weren’t in immediate danger, there was no point in making her more distraught than she was already.

He came out of the room, turned off the light and closed the door firmly behind him.

“Strange…” Cody looked around the room.

Obi Wan had been the most resistant about letting them in here, but he’d taken one look at Ahsoka and completely folded. His love for her trumped absolutely any of his own feelings

Particles of dust hung in the air, highlighted by the sunlight filtering through the window, and lay in thick layers on the various different surfaces. The room clearly hadn’t been touched since Qui Gon’s passing, particularly judging by how Obi Wan hung by the doorway. His jaw clenched as his eye scanned over the room. His face was unreadable.

“What?” Ahsoka asked, hanging back near her brother.

Cody moved the EMF reader over the desk near the window. It barely made a sound.

“It’s so quiet,” Rex remarked.

“Probably just residual haunting,” Cody said. He moved over to the bookshelf across the other side of the room, careful not to lay so much as a finger on anything. The reader hummed weakly, slightly louder than before but not by much.

“What does that mean?” Obi Wan asked, his voice thick with the effort it was taking to not cry.

“It’s like an echo,” Rex explained. “Not current activity. The imprint of someone that used to be here but isn’t anymore instead of an entity that is still here.”

“Oh.” Obi Wan blinked away tears, attempting to hold himself together. If Cody didn’t know better, he’d say he looked disappointed.

“That’s enough in here,” he decided, turning to Rex who nodded, especially when he saw the silent tears streaming down Ahsoka’s face.

“Yeah,” he agreed, quickly retreating back into the hallway and letting Cody close the door.

“Thank you for letting us in there,” Cody said to both Obi Wan and Ahsoka, who had retreated to her brother’s arms, hiding her face from him and Rex. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Obi Wan gave him a meek smile, running his hands through Ahsoka’s hair. “Thank you for being respectful.”

Ahsoka paused when she reached the entrance, not willing to go in. She was still visibly distressed from before but her emotions had taken a turn from grief-stricken to fearful.

“I really don’t want to…”

“It’s alright.” Cody told her, stepping into the room so she didn’t have to. “Just describe what happened.”

She looked to Rex for reassurance before she spoke. He nodded at her encouragingly.

“I’ve seen things in the mirror,” Ahsoka said. “Like they’re behind me but then I look directly where it was and its gone. In the shower too, in the reflective parts. There’s something there, I swear.”

Cody glanced at the EMF reader again. It wasn’t as loud as it had been in Anakin’s room. That had been unsettling, even for him. But here, it was still going off. “There’s something off.”

“The temperature dropped as soon as we came in,” Rex added, showing him the reading on the digital thermometer.

“That isn’t normal?” Obi Wan asked.

“It can be,” Cody said. “But we’ve been doing this long enough to know when it’s natural and when it isn’t. Cold spots are different from a room being cold.”

Obi Wan’s face was hard to read but he still didn’t seem convinced.

“We’ll take this back and review everything,” Cody explained as he put the equipment away when it came to the end. He’d asked Rex and Ahsoka to give them some space so he could talk to Obi Wan alone. “Ordinarily we’d be a bit more thorough but given the circumstances, this’ll have to do.”

“Listen, Cody.” Obi Wan had a very conflicted look on his face as he watched what he was doing. “You are an incredibly sweet person I just… I don’t know about all this.”

“It’s a lot to take in. I understand,” Cody said, acknowledging how difficult this must be for him. “Whatever you decide, we’ll have complete respect for. I really am sorry this was all sprung on you like this. If I had known-”

“But you didn’t,” Obi Wan said, finishing his sentence for him. “It’s alright. If I had to have anyone show up and explore my entire house, I am glad it was you.”

Cody gave him an appreciative smile. “We'll get back to you with whatever we find and then you can make your final decision. There’s no pressure at all.”

He meant it in the sense that he didn’t want to force Obi Wan into doing something that would make him uncomfortable, but there was a sense or urgency all the same. It was abundantly clear that something was going on inside the house. If Cody could convince Obi Wan to allow him to help, he would but it was a very fine line for him to walk.

He also wondered, with an involuntary shiver, if whatever had been hovering over Obi Wan earlier was still doing so or if it was confined only to the first floor of the house.

“It’s not so much that I have that much of a decision to make, so much as it is just a lot to process. If it will give Ahsoka peace of mind, then there’s no decision at all,” Obi Wan said, thinking out loud. “She gave me no indication that she was suffering so immensely and I don’t want to immediately invalidate her experiences.”

“But you don’t think what she said happened is actually what happened,” Cody finished. Obi Wan smiled at him uncomfortably, clearly not wanting to seem rude. “How about this. Can you give me a chance to convince you?”

“How do you intend to go about that?” Obi Wan asked.

“Can I buy you a drink?” Cody asked. Obi Wan raised an eyebrow.

“Oh?”

“We can talk through everything it would involve. I can answer any questions you have. Hopefully put your mind at ease. Plus you seem like you could use one and I don't want to drag this out for you.”

Obi Wan smiled. “You might be right about that but I’m not sure where I would send Ahsoka. I doubt she'll want to stay here alone.”

“Rex could always keep an eye on here,” Cody suggested. “We don’t live too far from here and we have siblings closer to her age.”

Obi Wan seemed conflicted at the idea. “I’d have to ask her.”

“Of course,” Cody said, eager to get them both out of the house. “And Anakin…?”

“I don’t know where he is,” Obi Wan replied. “I’ll message him and let him know we’ll be out, provided Ahsoka agrees.”

“Don’t tell him why!” Rex interrupted, overhearing the final part of the conversation, his cheeks turning red when both of them turned around to look at him sternly. “Ahsoka said it was Anakin’s fault and he might be pissed if he found out we were here.”

“His fault?” Obi Wan looked at him, confusion written all over his face.

“I said I would tell you earlier,” said Ahsoka, poking her head around the doorframe.

Obi Wan sighed. “And just how long were you both listening?”

“Long enough,” Ahsoka answered. “I don’t mind hanging out with Rex for a while if you guys want to go on another date. You’re welcome by the way.”

“That’s not- Is sort of thing going to happen a lot with you two?” Cody asked exasperatedly.

Ahsoka and Rex looked at each other and started laughing which pretty much answered that question.

“I suppose that settles it then,” Obi Wan said, turning back to Cody. “Would you two mind if I had a moment with Ahsoka please?”

“I’ll go put this away,” Cody said, grabbing the case.

“Oh, we still need to get that stuff from Anakin’s room,” Rex said, suddenly remembering. “I’ll go do that.”

The two went off to do their respective tasks, leaving the two siblings alone together. Whatever mischievousness Ahsoka had had seconds prior had effectively evaporated when Rex left.

“I’m really sorry, Obi Wan.” She started apologising immediately, looking at him with genuine remorse. “About lying to you.”

He cupped her face gently. “Please don’t get upset. You shouldn’t have been so worried about how I’ll react to things. If these are the lengths you feel you have to go to just to feel okay with living here, then it’s a failure on my part, not yours. If this will make you feel safer, then it’ll be worth it. You might be right that I probably wouldn’t have considered it otherwise.”

“It’s okay.”

“I know things haven’t been easy for a long time, especially for someone so young. Maybe this will be a turning point of sorts for us.”

“I’m not that young,” she grumbled.

“Shush,” he said, pulling her into a crushing hug that made her groan. “Don’t fight this.”

She pretended to hate it, as was her obligation as a younger sibling, but Obi Wan felt her relax in his hold only seconds later and realised just how badly she must’ve been needing it. He’d never let her feel that way again, he thought to himself. If it meant never letting her go, then so be it. He would do what he had to.

~•~

Rex left the two siblings to console one another, going back upstairs.

Anakin’s room sat directly across from the staircase. Ahsoka’s was the closest to the stairs, just on the left. The bathroom was right next door and Obi Wan’s was parallel to it across the landing, leaving Qui Gon’s old room on the far right. It meant Anakin’s room stared right at whoever ascended the stairs, the door hanging open like a gaping mouth, darkness leaking out from the inside. Rex wasn’t sure if he was being paranoid, but it was a little too dark for the middle of the day. It sent an involuntary shiver through his body, but he pushed it aside and went in, flipping the light on just to be safe.

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting but the room was empty. Still, he made quick work of grabbing the recorder and leaving, closing the door behind him. So quick in fact, that he completely missed what was looking at him from in the mirror.

Chapter Text

Obi Wan stared up at the old fire station, clutching two cups of coffee in his hands, and wondered if he had the correct address. The sign outside told him he was in the right place but a fire station seemed a little too on the nose for the base of a ghost hunting operation. He had the entirety of Ghostbusters basically memorised because Anakin had gone through a phase when he was much younger where he watched it obsessively and Obi Wan couldn’t help but wonder if the Fett family chose this place to run their business as an intentional reference. 

He hoped, as he approached the front door that he’d managed to remember Cody’s coffee order correctly. The previous week, after what Obi Wan had lovingly dubbed the most bizarre second date he’d ever gone on, he and Cody had gone out for coffee and Cody had tentatively been able to convince him that having a full investigation of his house was a good idea. He’d taken the time to talk him through everything it would involve and he was a very persuasive person, as it would turn out. 

Obi Wan had ended up say yes mostly because it would bring Ahsoka some peace but there was also a part of him that just liked Cody. It didn’t make sense to him either, considering the very odd circumstances, but he really did.

So he’d agreed to it. He didn’t really expect anything to come from it though. Cody was persuasive, but not to the point that he made Obi Wan actually believe there was monsters hiding under his bed. He respected the difference in beliefs, but it didn’t mean he was about to change his own. He’d need far more convincing than that..

Obi Wan pushed open the door which was heavy and loud enough that it announced his arrival. Cody had told him last week he’d be working today but that didn’t make him feel less nervous as he stepped inside.

There was a man at the front desk, nearest to the door, who look remarkably like both Cody and Rex, his distinguishing feature being that had a long scar running over one eye. Clearly there were strong genes running in this family because they could’ve been twins. 

“Hi, can I help you?” The man asked, putting on what Obi Wan recognised as a customer service voice, which helped offset his general gruffness. 

“Hello. Sorry, is Cody around? He told me he’d be here today,” Obi Wan said, visibly awkward, looking around as if Cody would suddenly materialise. 

The man stared at him like he had three legs for a few seconds before realisation dawned on his face. Clearly this man knew who he was, at least in some capacity. Cody must’ve said something. “Cody! Someone’s here for you!”

It was maybe twenty seconds before Cody emerged, a momentary look of confusion on his face until he saw Obi Wan standing there. Something about his entire demeanour changed then and he seemed to really brighten up.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Cody said, fixing him with a gentle smile. 

“I hope this isn’t inappropriate,” Obi Wan said, almost apologetically, handing the coffee to him. “I had an early class so I was out anyway and I wanted to stop by.”

“What’s this for?” Cody asked, staring down at the cup. 

“It's a first attempt at a thank you,” Obi Wan explained. “Ahsoka’s mood lifted so much when I told her that we were going ahead with this. She’s been excited all weekend.”

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. You’re still good for tomorrow, right?” Cody asked, putting a hand on the small of his back and guiding him away to a room down the hall, shooting a glare at Wolffe and the smug grin he was giving him from the front desk.

“As good as I can be, I think,” Obi Wan replied, a pleasant warmth in his chest at the feeling of Cody touching him. 

The room they entered was filled with a number of bizarre machines Obi Wan had never seen in his life. Many of them looked handmade, wires sticking out of odd places. There were also about a dozen computer monitors, each showing something different. Some of them appeared to be live footage of night vision cameras in different buildings.

“What is this?” Obi Wan asked, gesturing to the screens.

Cody saw the awestruck expression on his face, a small smile appearing on his face at Obi Wan’s bewilderment. “Depends what you’re talking about. That’s a live stream from this old property about two hours from here. Fox was working on it earlier before he had to go out. The owners said something through a chair through their front window.”

“And a ghost did that? Not a person?” Obi Wan asked. 

“Well, the chair was one inside the house and it was thrown into the front garden, so it’s a safe bet it wasn’t a person,” Cody said. “Also one of the people living there was still sitting on it at the time.”

“Ah.” Obi Wan looked away from the monitors, back to Cody. “So, uh, what do you do in here?”

“I was actually just going over the recordings we got from your place again,” Cody said, pulling a rolling desk chair out and gesturing for him to sit. He handed him a pair of thick headphones as Obi Wan sat down. “Here, put these on.”

He pressed the space bar and Obi Wan listened intently, although the wasn’t sure what it was he was listening for exactly. 

It sounded like whispering. It was incoherent, but it could be a voice. 

“That’s Anakin’s room,” Cody said, leaning over him. “After we left.”

“What am I hearing?” Obi Wan asked.

“I know it’s hard to make out. Ideally, we would record for hours, overnight just to be safe.” Cody explained. “But it seems like there’s a strong presence in that room, beyond the normal stuff… like things falling off shelves and it being cold in random places. It sounds like it’s speaking.”

Obi Wan suppressed a shiver as Cody echoed something he’d been thinking only months ago when things had started getting much noisier at night. It had just been plumbing noises, something like that but it had come out of nowhere. It was an old houses and old houses made noises but it was admittedly very repetitive. He’d spent his entire life in that house and he’d never heard some of the things he regularly heard now before. Still, there had to be a logical explanation. Something about plumbing or the construction of the house he didn’t understand. 

“I mentioned this to you.” Cody knelt down beside him and showed him the photos that were splayed out next to the keyboard, showing what the infrared camera had captured. 

“That… is unsettling,” Obi Wan admitted, frowning at the photo. “Are you sure it isn’t just feedback or something? A glitch maybe?”

“I’m sure. This outline here, that’s you. That’s Ahsoka there. This… this is taller than you both and it has a completely different shape but it’s identical to the one that was outside the door of your room.”

Cody produced another photo and place them side by side. The figures were identical. Obi Wan was perplexed. What Cody said made logical sense. He couldn’t argue with it. He could easily make out his own figure and Ahsoka’s, and the whatever was standing behind them definitely wasn’t either of them and he remembered what he saw last week too. He may be skeptical but that was irrefutable.

“I saw that last week but didn’t want to say anything that would stress Ahsoka out more than she already is. We go over stuff like this to try and figure out what the best next step is,” Cody said, eyes running over Obi Wan’s face slowly, initially checking to see his expression so he could make sure he wasn’t overwhelming him, but then getting slightly distracted. Obi Wan was an incredibly good looking person. That was just an objective truth. Cody would be a fool to not acknowledge it. It’s just that there was something quite delicate about his features. The vibrancy of his eyes, the way his hair was ever so slightly messy but still neatly styled, the odd few pieces hanging down in his face, the crease of his eyebrows as he frowned at the pictures, clearly deep in thought.

“And what have you decided for us?” Obi Wan asked, genuinely curious, turning to face him, those eyes fixing on Cody, which actually made him forget what he was going to say for a moment.

“Well,” Cody cleared his throat, pushing whatever he was feeling aside. He had a responsibility to be professional here. This was serious. “We don’t have a whole lot to go on right now but what we do have is pretty clear. Given the strength of the presence, an attempt at direct communication would be realistic. Also I can talk you through basic safety precautions too.”

“Safety?” Obi Wan’s eyes widened in alarm. 

“If it’s a harmful spirit, you need to be safe,” Cody told him. “There’s steps you can take to protect yourself and stop things from escalating while we sort it out for you. That’s only assuming it is harmful though.”

“It seems like you think it is already,” Obi Wan said. 

“I have a hunch.”

Cody stops short, dropping what he was about to see as his eyes narrowed in on Obi Wan’s neck. More specifically, what was on it. 

“What’s this?” He asked, feeling a slight wave of panic hit him. 

Obi Wan ran a hand across the side of his neck, wincing as he did, taking the headphones off and setting them gently on the desk. “Oh, I forgot about that. I think I must’ve done it in my sleep or something.”

Cody raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, trying to get a better look. Poking out ever so slightly from under the collar of Obi Wan’s shirt was what seemed to be some kind of scratch mark, visible enough for there to be some blood.  “That looks kinda deep. You forgot?”

“It’s probably just stress,” Obi Wan said with a shrug, attempting to appear nonchalant but it was abundantly clear that it had unnerved him. It was only then that Cody noticed the slight tremor in his hands that hadn’t been there last week. “Nothing to worry about.”

Cody shook his head, looking at him for a few seconds. “Let me see your hand.”

Obi Wan tilted his head. “What?”

“Humour me,” Cody said, holding his hands out.

Obi Wan gave him a bemused smile before complying. “Uh… sure.”

Cody took Obi Wan’s left hand in both of his own, his rough hands a pleasant contract to the much softer skin of Obi Wan’s. He worked with his hands a lot so it wasn’t a surprise. 

“Yeah, it’s exactly as I thought,” Cody said. 

“What is it?” Obi Wan peered at his own hand, as if expecting to see something he hadn’t before.

“Well,” Cody began, looking up at him, gripping Obi Wan’s hand with both of his own. “I was checking to see if you had giant talons I somehow missed because there is no feasible way you could do that to yourself without them.”

Obi Wan groaned. “Cody…”

“There is nothing you can say to convince me this is normal,” Cody said, before Obi Wan could say anything else, still clutching his hand securely in his own. “Let’s say you did this to yourself. There’s obviously a serious problem. This doesn’t happen by accident. But if you didn’t do it-“

“What, are you implying a ghost did it?” Obi Wan asked incredulously. 

“I don’t think a ghost could do this,” Cody replied, shaking his head. “You’d have to have a particularly vengeful spirit but now I’m not sure that’s what we’re dealing with. It might actually be something worse. Can I…?”

He gestured to Obi Wan’s neck with his left hand, still holding his hand with his other. 

Obi Wan blinked at him for a few seconds before reacting. “Oh, right. Yes. Of course.”

Cody finally released his hand and pulled back the collar of Obi Wan’s shirt, grimacing at what he saw. It got deeper the further back it went and as he looked, he saw the edge of another mark, equally deep by the looks of it. Not deep to the point of needing stitches, but deep enough that it most certainly wasn’t from a person. 

“You mind letting me look at the rest of it?”

Obi Wan sighed, begrudgingly nodding before he reached up and undid the first few buttons of his shirt.

This is really not the context in which he’d imagined this happening, Cody thought to himself, slightly bitterly, as he slid Obi Wan’s shirt off his shoulder, wincing at what he saw.

“And you wanted me to think you’d done this to yourself?”

He slid his hand across the smooth skin of Obi Wan’s shoulder, looking at the three long marks. The edges were still swollen and it wasn’t bleeding anymore but it evidently had been earlier. It was clear Obi Wan’s dark choice of shirt colour was far from accidental.

“You couldn’t at least bandage it or something?” Cody muttered.

Obi Wan blushed. “I didn’t think it was that bad.”

“This must really hurt,” Cody said, ignoring what he’d just said because he simply didn’t believe it. He also didn’t ask him if he was okay but it didn’t mean he didn’t feel awful about the fact that it had happened. He already knew the answer he’d get if he asked anyway, watching as Obi Wan look away again, his eyes returning to the screen in front of him. “Look at me for a second.”

Obi Wan didn’t immediately comply, so Cody put a gentle finger under his chin, moving his head till their eyes met. Obi Wan didn’t resist at all.

“Don’t do this to yourself.” Cody knew what he was feeling, at least partially. The downplaying of pain that was obviously much worse than it seemed? He invented that move. Just because he was self aware didn’t mean it wasn’t still a problem. “There’s no point, believe me. Don’t put yourself through that. If you’re in pain, get help for it.”

Obi Wan seemed to falter, not quite sure how to respond. Something in his eyes either softened or broke. It wasn’t immediately clear which.

“I won’t tell you to go to a hospital even though you should,” Cody said. He had such a tender way of looking at someone and speaking to them, Obi Wan noticed. A stark contrast to his initially intimidating appearance. It made Obi Wan feel extremely vulnerable, but he didn’t hate it. “But can you let me clean it at least?”

“I have a feeling you aren’t going to let me say no,” Obi Wan replied, a small smile on his lips now.

“God forbid I don’t want you to get an infection,” Cody teased lightly, taking Obi Wan’s hand to help him up, not that he needed help. Obi Wan suspected he just wanted another excuse to touch his hand which was an immensely flattering thing to realise.

Cody cleared a space on a table next to all the monitors. 

“Sit here,” he said, patting the table before crossing the room and pulling open a drawer, returning a few moments later with a first aid kit. He opened it and removed a bottle and some cotton pads.

“This might sting.” He said as he got closer and began to dab the cut with disinfectant, causing Obi Wan to flinch. “So… how’s your sleep?”

“My sleep?” Obi Wan repressed the urge to let his eyes fall shut as he felt Cody’s warm, supportive hand cup the side of his neck.

“You think you’re capable of doing this to yourself which means you mustn’t sleep that well,” Cody pointed out. “Weird dreams? Sleep paralysis? Anything like Ahsoka mentioned?”

“Well… nothing that unusual,” Obi Wan said.

“People who sleep well don’t assume they were the one to nearly claw their own head off, Obi Wan,” Cody scolded lightly. “You also hesitated and you kinda suck at lying, so I don’t believe you. When’s the last time you had a nightmare?”

“Well… last night, I suppose,” Obi Wan told him, looking up at him innocently. Cody just stared at him, completely dumbfounded.

“ Last- are you serious? Are you always this difficult?” 

“Only with people I really like,” Obi Wan joked. “You should really take it as the compliment that it is.”

“Sure thing,” Cody said, rolling his eyes. “So this dream. What happened?”

“Well…” Obi Wan broke eye contact once more, gaze moving to the wall across from them and Cody could pinpoint the exact moment he closed himself off. “I have a recurring dream about the night my father died. Roughly once a a week or so. I’ve gotten used to it but lately it’s changed. Last night was the most vivid. The man who attacked my father… I remember his face. He tried to run away and ran straight into traffic. Died at the hospital a few weeks after. He started showing up in my dreams soon after. I saw him last night standing at the foot of my bed, watching me.”

Cody pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Obi Wan should consider a career as a spy because that’s what it felt like trying to get information out of him. “And you didn’t want to mention that before?”

“It was just a dream,” Obi Wan insisted, expression changing from pretty neutral to slightly frustrated when he saw Cody give him another disbelieving glance. “What? I’ve been having these dreams since it happened. I don’t really understand why it’s suddenly a problem.”

“You have?” Cody asked.

“Yeah. Pretty much immediately.” Obi Wan was so clueless about the reality of his situation that it would be adorable if it wasn’t so damn concerning.

Obi Wan’s entire demeaour had changed. Before he’d seemed nervous but still open. Now it was like all the energy had been drained from his body. Cody felt awful for making him go back to such a traumatic time of his life, especially considering that Obi Wan didn’t even believe in the only reason Cody can justify forcing him to sink back into his trauma. With any other client, there’s usually no problem at all with getting them to recount anything that might’ve caused the dead to stick around, but from Obi Wan’s perspective, he’s just a guy he’s known for a few days who expected him to divulge every last detail of the darkest part of his life. Cody’s shocked he hasn’t walked out by now.

He decided he would have to try and take a step back to try and reassess the situation. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to talk sense into someone, but he suspected it would take more convincing this time. “Alright, I’m gonna tell you something I do not tell other people usually. Hopefully you’ll see it as a sign that you can trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Obi Wan interjected.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t,” Cody folded his arms, looking down at him. ”I know how insane what I’m pitching must sound.”

“So,” Obi Wan shuffled a little closer to the edge of the table and therefore closer to Cody. “What is it you want to tell me?”

Cody tapped the left side of his face, indicating the scar. “Wanna know how I got it?”

“It felt impolite to ask,” Obi Wan said with a shrug. “But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.”

“It happened about ten years ago. My dad has been making me do this basically since I was learning to read and write. If I’m old enough to hold a pen, I’m old enough to work a spirit box. That was his logic. I had a few years of experience but it wasn’t enough.

~•~

Nearly ten years earlier

~•~

The equipment was so heavy it was starting to make Cody’s arms feel numb but he knew he had to keep up.

“Did you paint the sigils like I asked?” Jango asked, slightly out of breath and more visibly panicked than Cody had ever seen him in his entire life. This was a man who barely so much as smiled on a regular basis, so if he was scared, Cody definitely should be too.

Cody nodded hurriedly, looking back over his shoulder as he followed his dad down the dark hallway, old floorboards creaking under his feet, feeling a fresh stab of fear as the darkness seemed to follow them. 

There was something in that darkness watching them. They knew it for a fact because that something had used to be the owner of the house. Now she was unrecognisable. Whatever was inside her had contorted and mutilated her beyond recognition. Cody wasn’t a doctor, but he knew bones weren’t meant to bend that way and they most certainly weren’t meant to protrude from your skin.

They approached the door at the end of the hall quickly, stepping carefully over the symbols spray painted on the floor. It was large enough that if the something tried to come into the room, it would probably catch them but just to be safe, Jango had begun pouring a thick circle of salt around them.

“What do I do?” Cody asked, his heart beating so intensely it echoed in his ears, trying to fight against the tears beginning to well in his eyes. He could hear scratching and screeching noises approaching the doorway rapidly and tried his best to prepare himself for what he was about to see but it would never be enough.

“What I tell you,” was Jango’s short, gruff reply.

When it finally came into view, terror didn’t begin to cover what Cody felt. The woman they’d met only hours before was nearly unrecognisable. He was pretty sure she’d been dead the entire time and they just hadn’t realised. Her head hung at a weird angle, the bones in her neck and her back jutting out at random places. Whenever she moved, there was a grinding, crunching noise and Cody could hear her ragged breathing from where he was standing, blood dripping steadily from the holes in her body. It had been pouring out earlier but she was probably running out now, propelled onwards only by whatever was inside her. 

“Dad…” his pleading voice sounded strangely disconnected, like it wasn’t really him speaking. He couldn’t feel his limbs anymore either.

“Quiet,” Jango said, waving his hand at him dismissively, not even bothering to look back. “Pay attention.”

The women, or what was left of her, took a few steps into the room, crossing the line of spray paint. Cody felt like he was about to pass out. He was used to floating objects and strange noises. Not whatever this was.

~•~

“I got the sigil wrong.” Cody grimaced at his own stupidity as he recalled the memory. Out of everything about that entire situation, that was the part he remembered the most, shame spreading throughout his chest even now. “I went over them a thousand times before. I could do them in my sleep. But the tiniest mistake will render it completely useless. Usually it’s just a ghost and we just do them as a precaution but this time it was different and I guess it threw me off. The demon picked me up and threw me about ten feet. I landed on the edge of a table. I thought it had torn my head off or something. ”

Obi Wan watched him carefully, feeling a deep ache of sadness at how harrowed by the memory he was. “Oh Cody… I’m so sorry”

“No, it’s fine.” Cody immediately brushed it off, winching as he recalled the physical pain. He’d actually barely felt it because it was so intense but he was certain he’d just been murdered which is an indescribable thing to go through. He’d felt like he was about to die because nothing that hurt that badly could possibly be something you could come back from. “I mean it wasn’t then but it’s fine now because now I know what’s out there.”

He lifted his gaze to make complete, unwavering eye contact with Obi Wan, but all Obi Wan saw now was a broken child still searching aimlessly for his father’s approval. It was enough to make him want to cry. There was such a raw pain in Cody’s eyes that the man himself didn’t seem to realise was visible. “I know you think this is all made up, but it’s not a joke to us. If there’s a chance there’s something in your house that wants to hurt you, I can’t force you to do anything about it but I will strongly advise that you do. I don’t want to scare you but this is real . I don’t want you to think we’re fucking with you or something because our field is filled with people like that. I’m not interested in exploiting grieving people because to be direct, it’s a waste of my time and I know shitty it can feel.”

Obi Wan watched him with patient eyes and waited until he was done before he spoke. Cody was a different person when he spoke about his father. As he’d retold the story, he didn’t seem to notice just how disturbing what he was saying was. Not the part about the demon. The part about how his dad had spoken to him But it wasn’t Obi Wan’s place to even have an opinion, let alone comment on it so he let the thoughts lie. “I didn’t think you were doing that.”

“But you still don’t believe me,” Cody said.

“It’s odd,” Obi Wan remarked. “I do, and yet I still maintain my own beliefs. I know they directly contradict yours, but I also don’t think you’re lying. You say it with enough conviction that I believe you. I guess I try not to think about the cognitive dissonance too hard. I don’t know. I mostly just don’t want to seem like I’m being rude.”

“I don’t think you’re rude. The complete opposite, actually.” The smile returned to Cody’s face and some of the tension seemed to leave his shoulders. “Now I’ve just told you something not even my brothers really know about. I’m not playing around here so is there anything you can tell me about when you started having these dreams? Anything you’re comfortable with sharing? I need to know the cause so I can help you . ”

Obi Wan stared off into the mid-distance, wracking his brain. He intentionally tried to shut those memories out which he knew wasn’t a good coping mechanism but he didn’t know what else to do, so reflecting on that time wasn’t pleasant or easy.

“In the hospital…” He started. “I visited him. I specifically asked to. I wanted to see the person who robbed me of my father. He had police everywhere so I didn’t get that close. I only saw him through the window of his room. He knew me though. He knew I had intended to press charges against him. I remember the look on his face. He looked right at me. I’ve never seen such volatile hatred from someone before. He took everything from me . He had no right to look at me that way. It was a pretty brutal accident. He ended up paralysed from the waist down and he still passed away anyway. I supposed my dreams became a little more vivid after that.”

Obi Wan only realised how much he’d become lost in his thoughts when Cody reached out and took his hand once more, giving him a grateful smile.

“They’re just dreams,” Obi Wan said softly, looking at their intertwined fingers. “That’s all they are. Right?”

He’d begun questioning now, Cody noticed. It was a significant first step.

“Possibly,” Cody said. “Would you say the dreams got more intense in the past few months?”

“What makes you ask that?” Obi Wan asked, although he already knew the answer.

“Last week,” Cody began. “When Ahsoka was talking about what she went through, her sleep paralysis, you looked surprised about it but I don’t think it was for the reason you wanted us to believe.”

Obi Wan felt his cheeks flush. He should be mad. Mad that Cody was accusing him of something like that. He knew he’d only actually be mad because Cody had absolutely hit the nail on the head. He’d seen straight through him.

“Obi Wan…” Cody squeezed his hand and looked him right in the eyes. His face was so sympathetic and kind. “Do you experience the same things?”

Obi Wan broke the eye contact. 

“What she said about Anakin…” His voice was so quiet it was nearly a whisper. “About him coming into her room… He’s done the same thing to me a few times.”

“Wait, Ahsoka said it was a dream,” Cody pointed out. “Or sleep paralysis. You don’t think it is.”

“I…” Obi Wan retracted his hand, folding his arms around himself, becoming visibly anxious again. “Anakin is very troubled. I know you must have an awful impression of him but he’s an incredibly kind person usually. I have known him for his entire life. His mother used to be good friends with my father before she passed on. He has always had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met but he has endured a great deal and I don’t believe he is conscious when he does these things.”

“Obi Wan, just tell me.”

“They aren’t dreams.” Obi Wan finally admitted, unable to meet Cody’s gaze. “There have been quite a few times where I have woken up with his hands around my throat. He seems awake but he isn’t. I thought Ahsoka might be safe though. Anakin has his issues with me, but he and Ahsoka have always been so close. He would never hurt her.”

Obi Wan’s eyes shone with a deep, aching sadness which he tried not to let show on the rest of his face. He seemed so tired, so run down. 

“Okay, this is serious,” Cody told him. “Ghosts or not, you cannot live like that.”

“I don’t know what else to do,” Obi Wan said with a shrug. “Short of breaking up our family and that is the very last thing any of us need right now. You are right though. Now that I know Ahsoka is being affected-”

“It was already too much when it was happening to you,” Cody said, cutting him off. Obi Wan looked at him and was met with a gaze that bordered on harsh and didn’t dare contradict him. 

Cody’s bluntness had a way of stunning Obi Wan into silence, not because it bothered him or he couldn’t handle it, just because it was undeniably true and he said it with so much assertion that Obi Wan found himself unable to argue. There was such a stern kindness about Cody that Obi Wan couldn’t help but find himself drawn to.

“So, uh, what would it mean if some kind of spirit did this?” Obi Wan asked, gesturing to the scratches, changing the subject. “Hypothetically. If it hadn't happened before, what would have had to have changed?”

“This might be my fault,” Cody admitted, apologetically. “Well, me and Rex. Our presence might’ve agitated them. Can’t say that for sure though.”

“Maybe the ghosts didn’t like the idea of us trying to get rid of them,” Obi Wan joked. Cody gave him a look. “Wait, really?”

“Just don’t provoke them,” Cody said, picking up the antiseptic and resuming what he’d been doing reaching the final cut and beginning to clean it. “Your tactic of ignoring them might’ve been saving your life.”

“I am not-” Obi Wan protested. Cody raised an eyebrow at him and he admitted defeat. “Perhaps I can be a tad avoidant but I don’t see how that applies here.”

“Well, it can be hard for a spirit to maintain a connection to this plane,” Cody explained. “If you, a living person, acknowledge it, you give it a tie to this realm. Make sure no one in your house is interacting with these things because it’ll only make things worse. If you have a pet we didn’t see, consider sending them to stay with someone else until we can fix this. If there’s something malevolent in your house, it might go for them first. I’ve seen a lot of families lose pets. Just better to be safe than sorry.”

“Why go for a pet? Why not just kill everyone?”

“Well malevolent spirits aren’t just strictly murderous. They like to mess with people. It’s more fun that way. It makes possession easier too. They also get rid of pets because animals generally have heightened senses and can tell when they’re there. Not to mention its a hell of a way to break someone’s resolve.”

Cody set the bottle of antiseptic down and gave the wounds a final onceover. “Just be careful. Can you lock your bedroom?”

Obi Wan nodded. “Ahsoka has been staying in my room these last few nights too.

“I can’t make you leave your house, and I get the sense you wouldn’t want to, so keep it locked,” Cody said, his gaze softening significantly, keeping his hand where it was on Obi Wan’s chest.

Obi Wan looked up at him, heart beating in his ears but not out of fear this time. His fingers curled around Cody’s wrist, keeping his hand where it was. Cody stared down at him, the serious expression melting completely off his face. They were already so close together, Cody still standing in between his legs. If he just leaned in a little further then he could-

“I’d love to.” Cody suddenly pulled back, although not by much, his voice low and quiet. “I mean I’d really love to.  I just… maybe not right now. When this is over and you’re no longer a client?”

Obi Wan frowned, knowing in his heart he was right, but the sheer respect Cody demonstrated for him as a person only made him like him infinitely more. “If we must.”

Cody grinned at him, taking his hand and helping him down.

“Can I at least buy you lunch or something?” Obi Wan offered.

“You already got coffee,” Cody said, reluctantly letting go of his hand. “Let me.”

“No, no. You’ve been such a darling about this whole thing. I insist,” Obi Wan said. “After that I promise to leave and stop distracting you.”

Cody smiled again. “Pity. I quite like you distracting me.”

Obi Wan raised an eyebrow. “What did you just say about waiting?”

“You are not making it easy,” Cody said, laughing softly as he did. 

“I’m not even doing anything,” Obi Wan protested,

“Exactly. Imagine if you actually started trying.”

Chapter Text

“Y’know, you really don’t have to say anything. No one would blame you.”

The cards Obi Wan held were rough against his palms. His hands were so dry and he hated how paper felt on dry hands. It was like the sound of metal scraping against metal. Borderline bloodcurdling. It was just one of many things about today that was sending his nerves spiraling.

Everything was too much. The lights. The sound of traffic in the distance. The sunlight coming through the windows. The sound of people. Didn’t matter whether they were talking or not. He knew they were there and that closeness made him want to rip his hair out.

But he smiled politely, just like he always did. Just like he had during the events that had ended up leaving him here, in this cold, vacuous room, full of people he barely knew.

“Thanks, Bant,” He gave his old friend his best smile, knowing very well she saw through him. “I do though. Not like I’ll get a chance later.”

What was eating- no, clawing away at him was how easy it had all been. This was meant to be stressful. It should be expensive and painful, but the process had gone so smoothly.

But of course a man as unpredictable as Qui Gon Jinn had had his affairs in order. It was like he’d known it was going to happen, but he hadn’t and it only made Obi Wan angrier. What man in his fifties had a fully drafted will and already had funeral arrangements decided? Why had he spent so much time thinking about that? He wasn’t chronically ill, he didn’t have a history of mental health problems or physical ailments. Nothing that indicated he was going anywhere.

But then Obi Wan had gotten his letter and he understood. Rather he was able to accept what he already knew by seeing it written down.

Qui Gon had loved his children. That’s why he’d been prepared for the worst. Still, it was like he’d slipped right through Obi Wan’s hands like sand, straight into the ground.

There were so many faces here he didn’t recognise. He hadn’t had enough time to process much of anything to decide how he felt about that.

Bant gave him that smile you only gave people when you felt bad for them but knew better than to try to interfere with how they were feeling. She knew there was no changing his mind.

“I’ll be nearby if you need me,” is all she said, before giving him space.

Obi Wan turned away from the room, staring into the wall. If he looked to his right, towards the middle of the room, he’d see a casket so he kept his gaze straight ahead. He was a pretty good public speaker ordinarily but there was nothing ordinary about this. The rest of his organs felt like they’d tied themselves around his lungs, squeezing the air out of his body, and his limbs felt like all the blood had left them. He felt halfway between keeling over and throwing something through the nearest window but he did not let it show. He never did.

~•~

Obi Wan's thoughts were ripped away from the past and forced back into present day by a meowing from the living door. When he looked, he was greeted by the sight of Boga strolling over to him.

“Hello, little one.” He smiles as she began to nuzzle against his legs, leaning down and scooping her into his arms. She hadn’t been little in a long time though. She was getting old and Obi Wan knew it but he didn’t have the mental capacity to even consider something happening to her right now.

He remembered the day he found her. The reason it was particularly significant now was because he had been with Qui Gon at the time. He’d been having some trouble adjusting to Anakin living with them. He never said it out loud because he felt horribly selfish for even thinking it, but it would turn out he didn’t have to say anything at all. Qui Gon had a way of reading him that could be quite unbearable at times, but it was a tremendous relief to him then.

He’d always enjoyed looking at birds when he was younger and so Qui Gon had begun going on walks with him and Anakin to try and figure out what birds could be seen. They couldn’t leave Anakin behind and Obi Wan would never have even suggested it but it had been an unspoken secret between him and Qui Gon that this was only for him. This would always be their thing.

And then, one random day when the weather wasn’t particularly nice but wasn’t especially bad, a cat with a rather concerning limp and fairly prominent ribs had wandered out onto their path like their meeting had been destined. She’d looked rough and like the world hadn’t been kind to her but it didn’t stop her from prancing right up to them and meowing.

After a visit to the vet where it had been deduced that she didn’t have an owner, Qui Gon posed the question to Obi Wan and his new brother. Anakin had been indifferent to her from the beginning but Obi Wan was already attached, so Boga had entered his life and had been there ever since.

She was already an adult when they found her, clearly having belonged to someone who didn’t want her anymore.

It was then that he recalled what Cody had said during their conversation earlier about him sending any pets away to protect them. She'd managed to sleep through the entire investigation last week. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about it all but the concept of her being a target had admittedly freaked him out.

“What do you think?” He asked, looking down at her.

Boga purred in his arms, rubbing her head against his beard. Obi Wan let out a sigh. He didn’t believe in ghosts. He didn’t. Still, better safe than sorry.

“I suppose I could call Mace,” he said to her. “I don’t believe he’s awfully fond of cats but I have no doubt you’ll win him over.”

“Who are you talking to?”

Obi Wan would’ve jumped about ten feet in the air if it hadn’t been for his hold on Boga.

“Anakin! Announce yourself if you’re going to move around so quietly.”

His brother didn’t smile or apologise or do anything at all. He just stared at him from the dark doorway. Obi Wan suppressed a shiver.

“How is Padme?” Obi Wan asked, attempting to shift the awkwardness.

“She’s fine. Where did you go this morning?” It was such an abrupt question that Obi Wan just sort of gawked at him for a few seconds.

“Well, I had a class,” Obi Wan begin before Anakin interrupted.

“Which finishes at eleven, but you didn’t get back for hours.”

“I was with a friend,” Obi Wan answered, wondering what reason Anakin could have for memorising his schedule. It was on his phone so it’s not as if his brother could see it.

“Which one?” Anakin asked. Even Boga had tensed up, jumping down and scurrying out of the room.

“No one you would know. Someone I just met. Are you alright, Anakin?”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, you’re home so little these days that I-”

“Can you blame me?” Anakin asked, smiling vindictively in the dark that seemed to wrap around him like someone had draped a cloak over him. “I mean, can you really blame me?”

“Anakin. I don’t know what you’re implying but I would ask that you stop right now.”

“I think you know exactly what I’m implying.”

Boga’s purring had ceased and she stared straight at the doorway, letting out a hiss.

Anakin scoffed at her, turning around and leaving the doorway empty.

Obi Wan watched the empty space where his brother had been, wondering when someone he loved so much had started leaving him with such a hollow feeling in his chest whenever they interacted.

~•~

“It was a nice speech.”

Anakin was doing his best to smile but Obi Wan knew him far too well.

“Thank you,” was his response. He wanted to say it wasn’t nice at all. That Qui Gon deserved better than he could ever give him. But Anakin didn’t need to hear that right now so Obi Wan kept it to himself.

“I don’t know how you do that stuff,” Anakin admitted, as they stared out into the small patch of woods at the rear of their back garden. The sky was bright white and everything else was a rather dreary grey like a film had been placed over the world. The trees at the end of the garden had a quality about them that was almost animated. When you stared at them, seemed to stare back and their gaze was not a kind one. Obi Wan had managed to steal a few moments to himself during the midst of the wake, but of course, he had no problem with his brother joining him. "You're so good at it."

Being inside was smothering. Outside wasn't much more pleasant but at least it was quieter. Nearly everyone he cared about was in there but it was so much to take in. Perhaps Anakin could sense how close to the edge he was which is why he’d been unusually well behaved today. Anakin was temperamental at the best of times but now he’d lost two parental figures so Obi Wan wouldn’t blame him if he had a complete breakdown. However, he’d been well mannered and calm the entire day.

“Speaking?” Obi Wan looked over at him. “You’re better at it than you think.”

“Nah.” Anakin smiled at the ground, nudging a dislodged piece of wood from the decking around with his foot. “That’s all you. I guess I’m better at other things. I don’t know.”

“You’re much smarter than I am, Anakin,” Obi Wan said. “You could be good at anything if you set your mind to it.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Obi Wan admitted. “I think I’m going to drop out.”

“What?!" Anakin exclaimed. "You can’t!”

Obi Wan shook his head."

“No, I think I do," he said "You have so much to balance already and Ahsoka is so young. I need to be at home. She, in particular, needs that.”

“Please don’t," Anakin pleaded. "Can’t you just take a year out or something? You’ve put so much work into this. You can’t just throw it away. I- I can do more! Just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I swear.”

Obi Wan pressed his lips together into a solemn smile, putting a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "I'll look into taking a year out. I don't want you to worry though. You shouldn't have to do anything more than you already do. I know you hate when people point it out, but you are still a child in many ways. If you really want more responsibilities, I'm sure there are some things you can do, but I want you to have as normal a life as possible."

His mind really had been set on dropping out. It wasn't that he wanted but he didn't know how much he could take right now. Any serious attempt at doing work was derailed by his inability to focus on anything. Whenever he found himself stuck with anything, he'd go and find Qui Gon and they'd talk about it. Hearing whatever had been vexing him said out loud helped him think about it differently, and now there was nowhere for him to go.

They stood in silence for a few more seconds, staring out at the unforgiving forest, when Obi Wan heard a gentle sniffling coming from beside him. He looked over to see silent tears streaming down Anakin's cheeks.

Obi Wan didn't know what to say, because there was nothing that could be said, so he just pulled Anakin in for a hug, feeling his brother hide his face in his neck. It wasn’t long before Obi Wan felt the dampness of tears against his skin.

It wasn’t long before he joined Anakin in his tears, holding on as if Anakin too would disappear from his life.

~•~

Obi Wan wasn’t sure when exactly it was after his interaction with Anakin that he fell asleep but it was anything but restful.

He’d been awake since seven that morning and he hadn’t been sleeping much in general. Being with Cody had taken longer than he’d thought it would, but not longer than he’d wanted. However, when he’d gotten back, he’d been pretty wiped out so passing out with Boga still in his arms hadn’t been hard at all.

He woke up what had to be a couple of hours later. At least he thought he was awake, but he found he couldn’t move.

He was still in his living room, and it was darker. Someone had turned the light off.

It would have become easy to start to panic. He wasn’t prone to claustrophobia or anything like that but feeling like his limbs were trapped wasn’t a sensation he especially enjoyed.

This had been happening more and more often but Obi Wan understood that it was only caused by a poor quality of sleep and he didn’t even know where to begin with trying to figure out the root of his sleep problems. There were so many things it could be, although Cody had already made his opinion clear.

It didn’t actually get scary until something shifted into his view.

He shouldn't have looked. He shouldn't have looked, but he did. He recalled last week when Ahsoka mentioned that she just pretended not to see the things in her dreams, but he had already looked right at it. 

There was something peering over at him from the end of the sofa, hunched over on all fours. It was dark but Obi Wan could make out a face, if that’s what it could be called. There wasn't much of it left because it had all rotted away.

There was also something by the doorway, similarly dark, similarly looking right at him. He could only see it in his peripheral view but he knew in his soul that its eyes were fixed on him.

He wasn’t ignorant to what this was though. A simple hallucination prompted by sleep paralysis. He closed his eyes even though it was too late and focused on keeping his breathing as calm as possible. Qui Gon had always been a pretty spiritual person and while he’d never bought into the spiritual side of it, Obi Wan had always found the meditation he’d been forced to do growing up to actually be incredibly helpful. He hadn’t done it since Qui Gon’s passing but it wasn’t hard to slip back into old habits. It was in his head. Many people reported seeing shadowy figures during things like this. It was the most common experience you could have and it wasn't real.

But that didn’t explain the smell that was in the air. It was like burning and something else really strong and metallic. 

That must just be part of it though, so he kept his eyes closed and tried the block out the sound of hoarse breathing. He’d seen the thing in front of him many times. This was just his brain processing trauma. Yes, over time the figure had become more and more twisted and decomposed but that was just his brain. It was in his head. It had to be in his head because if it wasn’t then Cody and Ahsoka and Rex were all right and there was something leering at him right now while he was completely exposed. He simply did not have the ability to process that right now.

It was in his head.

It was in his head.

It was in his head.

Except it wasn't. There are some things that are just too horrifying for the human mind to comprehend, so there would be no way Obi Wan would ever accept his reality, even if he was a diehard believer in the supernatural. But the thing in front of him, the thing that used to be a man, was very much there and the only reason he was still alive was because he wasn't in a deep enough sleep. He wasn't in the safer walls of his bedroom now, so the only reason it couldn't get to him, why it couldn't claw at his skin again, was because his guard wasn't all the way down. It had been trying for months and it had gotten so much closer recently. Obi Wan was running out of time and he didn't even know it.

What he was on the cusp of understanding, although he was still not quite there, was that his consistently rational mind, usually extraordinarily helpful in his day to day life, would be his undoing here. There were no sleep paralysis hallucinations at play here. 

Three pairs of eyes had watched him the entire time he’d slept. In fact, they’d not looked away from him since the moment he got back home.

Obi Wan didn’t look back again. He couldn't. In a matter of minutes, his body would catch up with his brain and he’d be awake again.

But then there was the very real sound of floorboards under someone’s feet by the door and he woke with a start, clutching his chest, head jerking over in that direction, rationality thrown to the wind, ready to fight or run or whatever his body naturally did first.

It was empty. There was no one there.

Obi Wan almost laughed, out of borderline hysteria, as his heart pounded in his ears because, for a moment, he was allowed to believe it was all still in his head. He was surely losing it.

That was when the noise of the squeaky stairs sounded, followed by scrambling footsteps and seconds later by the closing of a door. Obi Wan felt his blood turn to ice as he realised what had just happened. He stared at the open door in horror as Boga leapt up onto the couch beside him, staring in the exact same direction as he was, her back arched and her tail curled under her, posture rigid and a soft hish escaping from her mouth.

Anakin’s door had a slightly rustier hinge than the others, by pure coincidence, nothing else, and it would creak when it closed. That sound seemed to echo down the hall and fly directly at Obi Wan, hitting him right in the chest.

That had been a dream. That’s all it was. Just a dream, and he was still reeling from it which is why he was hearing things. Anakin wouldn’t-

But Obi Wan stopped himself, catching himself in a lie. Anakin would. He had proof in the form of past bruises on his neck that forced him to accept that Anakin most definitely would. He'd woken up a number of times to Anakin doing strange things, only sometimes hurting him, and Obi Wan had been foolish enough to let it continue because he believed on some level that he deserved it. That this was a punishment for every way Obi Wan had failed him.

But Cody was right. Enough was enough. Not only because Ahsoka was being affected, but because no matter what he'd done, he did not deserve this. He had to remind himself of that and one day, he might actually start believing it too.

And that was when that smell hit his nose once more. The smell of a bonfire and the thick, pungent scent of blood. He was most certainly awake now, and the smell was still present.

Obi Wan stood up, trying to steady himself, moving to rub at the scars now forming on his chest as he had begun doing when he was anxious, but when he did, his hands were damp. He hadn’t looked down because he'd had no reason to, and when he did, he saw the crimson staining his hands, dripping from his fingertips.

He felt like he was going to be sick, looking around in a daze. Had he hurt someone? Was he the one hurt? Was Boga alright? Was there a gas leak or something? What the fuck was happening?

There was no blood anywhere, he was alone in the room, except for Boga who was completely fine. So where had it come from?

Hot tears sprang to his eyes as he let out a sob, so terrified he was going to see someone lying somewhere but the blood was only on him.

He didn't even think about running to the bathroom. Ahsoka had mentioned being unable to enter the one upstairs, but neglected to mention the downstairs one. It was down the empty hallway which was completely free from blood stains, and he felt like he might collapse just trying to get there like all the blood from his own body had been drained and was seeping into his clothes.

The bathroom was eerily cold, like those cold spots Cody had explained to him, and he could see his breath in front of him. He turned on the tap and tried to clean the blood off, but all it did was turn the water red. He tried so hard to rub it off, but it wouldn't budge.

Something moved behind him in the reflective surface of the sink, just like Ahsoka had mentioned happening to her, and he couldn't help but glance up. His body did it automatically and as soon as he did it, he wished more than anything he hadn't.

He only saw it for a second in the mirror, before he whipped around to see properly, but what he saw he'd never forget for the rest of his life.

When he had seen it before at the edge of the couch through half-closed eyes, he didn't have time to note the details of its face, but he recognised who it was. It was burned beyond recognition but he knew those eyes. He couldn't cry, he couldn't even breathe. The smell of fire and rot filled his nose until it felt like it was replacing the air.

And then he turned around and it was gone. His hands were clean too and the room didn't smell. He was alone again. 

He stood there for god only knows how long, rooted to the spot, unable to think clearly. It had been there. It had really been there. There's no way it hadn't.

But then it had vanished. 

He was finally broken out of his trance by a loud meow, and it felt like he'd just woken up. 

Boga started rubbing against his ankles, as worried as a cat could be, meowing repeatedly in a way that sounded almost remorseful. 

Obi Wan clutched his chest, sinking to the ground and letting Boga continue to rub against him as he did what he could to pull himself together. 

He should probably go to the hospital, shouldn't he? He had to be sick. There was something in the air or the water or something else. He'd picked up something from somewhere. 

"Need to get you out of here," he said to Boga, rubbing his chest to try and calm himself down. Maybe Cody had gotten through to him, just a little.

He still didn't believe in ghosts, but there was something happening and he'd feel better if Boga wasn't involved. 

Now the hallway seemed a lot more daunting. It seemed darker than it had mere moments ago, and much longer too. Like it stretched much further than it really did. Those strange noises that had started happening a few months ago no longer seemed like coincidences.

He was starting to feel the eyes that were locked onto him from the floor above but was not yet fully conscious of the full extent of their intentions.

The eyes were only getting closer. They had been waiting for a long time, chipping away at what kept them away from him. If they could get through him, everything else would fall into place. The girl was barely a hurdle. He was the one really stopping them.

He couldn't sit on the bathroom floor forever. Gathering Boga into his arms once more, holding just a little tighter now, he left the room, keeping his eyes half-closed just in case he saw something. He hadn't done that since he was a kid and he knew it didn't make sense. If he truly believed there was nothing there, then he'd have no reason to be scared, but he was terrified.

He reached the bottom of the stairs, half expecting to see someone at the top. But there was no one.

"Anakin?" His voice broke halfway through, betraying his fear to anyone listening.

A few seconds pass. Nothing.

He tried again.

"Anakin?!"

Nothing again.

But Obi Wan knew what he heard. That part had to have been real, if nothing else had been and he wasn't even so sure about that now. He'd heard Anakin run up those stairs hundreds of times. He knew that boy better than he knew himself. Even if things had become strained, he'd know Anakin anywhere and those were his footsteps. 

Already regretting his decision, he put one foot on the stairs, beginning to climb.

If this was all in his head, if he was truly losing his mind, all he had to do was ask Anakin and he'd tell him. 

One foot after the other. That's all it took. 

The stairs seemed to groan much louder than usual as if warning him against what he was doing. Ahsoka had told him all about what Anakin had done, what she believed was the root of all this. Obi Wan hadn't believed her at the time, even though it was just a few days ago, but now he wasn't as certain. Could Anakin really have caused so much damage?

He raised a hand to knock, hesitating for a second too long, because the front door opened and made him jump out of his skin.

Ahsoka entered, just arriving back from school, and looked around for a sign that anyone was home. She spotted him eventually at the top of the stairs, flinching initially but relaxing when she recognised him in the darkness. But then her expression changed again and her face turned deathly pale. He couldn't tell from the distance, but her gaze had shifted slightly from him to just behind him.

“What are you doing?”

Obi Wan just about had a heart attack. He looked around to see Anakin poking his head out of the door. He looked like himself again, but his room was pitch black behind him and it didn't look like he'd been sleeping. Boga wriggled slightly in his arms, earning a glare from Anakin. Obi Wan knew he'd never particularly cared about her but that was a concerning reaction.

“Sorry, I was just- were you downstairs a few minutes ago?”

Anakin did not look amused by the question at all. "I've been up here for hours. Why?”

Obi Wan really did know Anakin. That meant he knew exactly when he was lying.

“I guess I thought I heard you," he said, not calling him out on the lie. His senses screamed at him not to. "Never mind.”

“So… you came up to ask if I had gone downstairs? Is that a problem now?”

Obi Wan suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. This was Anakin. He was still moody but it was a distinct change from the person who he’d spoken to in the living room. He would pick fights and start arguments for no reason and it could be a nightmare.

“Were you sleeping?" He asked politely. "I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I wasn’t.”

Well, that confirmed that suspicion.

“Then why-”

“Did you need something?”

"No. No." Obi Wan's mind went blank. Anakin just stared. "It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Right..." Anakin gave him an annoyed, if slightly confused look, closing the door again.

Obi Wan sighed, wincing slightly at his own awkwardness and feeling ashamed at the relief he felt when he couldn't see his brother anymore.

A small hand grasped his suddenly, making him jump. It was only Ahsoka, but her hand was shaking and her gaze was glued to him, like she was terrified to look anywhere else. Boga hid her face from view, nuzzling into his neck, like she was scared to look around as well.

"Do you maybe want to go out somewhere?" Ahsoka asked, her eyes wide and almost teary, trying and failing to seem nonchalant so as to not draw attention. The rule was don't let them know you can see them, but her peripheral vision was really screwing her over right now. "I feel like we haven't spent enough time together recently."

Both of them were there, just out of the corner of her eye. The one that hung closely to Anakin had detached itself now. She'd never clearly seen them in her dreams before, but their faces were fully visible now. Something had changed in the last few weeks, even more in the last few days, and they didn't care as much about hiding anymore. They hovered around Obi Wan, like they couldn't quite get to him as much as they wanted to. If they couldn't touch him, she needed to use that to get them both out of here while she still could.

It seemed Ahsoka and Obi Wan both shared a mutual feeling, an unspoken understanding that this was no longer a safe place, at least while Anakin was still there. They wouldn't be able to get him out right now.

Ahsoka looked at Obi Wan and knew that he understood.

The smell of smoke seeped back into the air, but this time they could both smell it.

Obi Wan shivered involuntarily as something he couldn't see at the moment, but Ahsoka could, walked straight through him.

"Please," Ahsoka whispered, pulling on his arm, the desperation clear in her face, begging him just to play along with it. She was trying so hard to protect him, and he could see that now. He could see everything now.

"That's a good idea," he agreed, going along with it, his voice breaking and betraying just how scared he was. "Anakin?"

He called behind him but didn't look away from Ahsoka. 

"Ahsoka and I are going out for a bit if you'd like to join us."

He was betting on Anakin saying no, but he didn't receive a reply at all. Neither he nor Ahsoka had any idea what was happening behind that door, but they knew they just had to get out of there right now.

"We'll see you later," Ahsoka called, pulling Obi Wan slowly towards the stairs, keeping the eye contact all the time. 

The figures didn't follow. They couldn't. Bound to the boy behind the door, they just watched from the shadows. It wouldn't be much longer now.