Archive of Our Own ^beta

Order 66 was done, and all of the clones were said to return back to the Kamino. At first glance, it looked normal but there were never during the time of war so many people there, the cafeteria was crowded but Cody managed to find a place to sit and eat in peace despite the fight on the other side of it. There wasn't much he had to do there as he only had to wait for being called by Tarkin or another imperial officer.

In the meantime, he had to help lower-ranked clones who like him were waiting for another order, in the disposal of the remains of the Jedi. It was a hard job, seeing all of the young padawans whose whole life was before them, Jedi masters who dedicated their lives for the future of the Jedi order, or some of the traitors he knew before and treated them equally with the rest. He tried to forget who or what he saw but one time he couldn't. As he was tossing the lightsabers to the furnace, Cody mindlessly grabbed another one but something felt off. He held this lightsaber many times before. He took a glance at it, his stomach dropped as he recognized it, it was Obi-Wan’s weapon. The one he compared to life, the one he lost countless times and had his commander return it to him. Cody felt the same need to do so as during the war, while they were fighting side by side. He had hidden it and just waited for an opportunity if it’ll ever occur.

"So much for a secret mission." Cody cursed to himself. It was supposed to be a mission with just Rex who would help him find his general, of course, the details weren’t said due to Cody’s sudden need to kill his brothers. He put on his helmet again and pulled out his DC-15S and began to move toward the hallway where he last saw a group of rogue clones. In all fairness, he didn't want to harm them but something in the back of his mind was telling him that it was an order. Ever since the Battle of Utapau, he had this urge to do unspeakable things, just because he was a good soldier.

Lighting on the abandoned ship wasn't fully turned on not to draw the attention of any strangers who would happen to pass by the shipwreck. He approached a corner and sneaked behind crates that were thrown on the ground just a few seconds before the group of rouge clones stopped chasing him. Cody searched on his belt for anything that could help him in this situation. Except for two detonators, he also had found a few reflective apparatus which in this case were useful.

Cody took out one of them and threw it onto a wall that was facing another part of the hallway, it attached itself to it. He was ready to take a shot now; he carefully moved his blaster toward the reflective apparatus and aimed at it. His fingers had tightened around the trigger, not wanting to pull it. But he knew he had to fulfill his orders, otherwise, he would be no better than them. When a quick moment of hesitation passed he took a shot, he had to hit someone as he heard the muffled scream of the youngest clone.

Using her reaction as a distraction he moved past the corner. Cody looked at the clone squad and later noticed a body laying on the ground. In the faint, flickering light he managed to make out whose markings were on the armor; he shot Rex.

Cody's hands were trembling, he shot his brother. The only one who still believed him, and the only one who tried to help him. Suddenly he saw a blue, blinding light pass through him, causing him to fall to his knees.

Just before closing his eyes he caught a glimpse at his weapon and noticed that it was in stun mode. He had to turn it on instinctively. His body relaxed when he briefly processed that information.

Cody finally woke up, he was unable to tell where he was, but judging by the fact that he was lying in the surgery chamber he could be in medbay.

"He's conscious." Tech informed the rest of the clones who seemed to be bored out of their mind, Omega and Wrecker were playing one of their board games and Hunter was as usual flipping his knife.

Cody tried to get up. "W-Where's Rex?" He asked as his brother was nowhere to be seen.

"He's back at Marauder, and fine." Hunter answered the question. He looked quite surprised by the acknowledgment of using stun mode in his rifle. Cody after hearing about Rex's whereabouts, his body relaxed, but his mind was still fighting with the feeling of guilt because of the lack of self-control when it came to the fight.

"I've run some tests and your vitals are now stable but make sure not to jump straight into battle or your condition might get worse," Tech advised.

"What happened?" Cody asked a question again, he knew something was wrong but nothing seemed to indicate that.

"When the end of the war with Separatists was coming to an end, clones received their final order, which was to eliminate all Jedi." Tech began to explain but stopped mid-way through to show Cody's brain scan where on the frontal lobe something was marked with bright red. "This is an inhibitor chip. We have had it in our brains since our creation, and they were used during order 66 so we will follow it without hesitation. While you were unconscious we removed it from you."

Cody opened his mouth to ask how they knew about this but before he said anything he was cut off by Tech. "Our squad didn't follow that order right away, well most of us… we think this might have something to do with our defectiveness but we can't be sure about that ever since we lost access to Kaminoan equipment."

"The Empire took control over it?"

"No. The Empire destroyed our home. Rampart was given an order to bomb Tipoca city, we were there when it happened but thankfully we all made it and there were no other casualties." Hunter explained and as he was saying that Omega was trying to listen closely, she was still devastated by this but every time someone was talking about it she felt the need to hear it again despite being with them at the time.

"I know the Empire isn't good but I had to follow their orders. Even the ones I didn't agree with. But if what you're saying about the inhibitor chip is true I want to fight for what is right."

"That's the spirit!" Wrecker told him from afar, and at the same time trying to finish the game.

"Yes!" Omega said in victory over her brother.

"Have you met Crosshair?" Tech asked out of curiosity, although he was quite sure he knew the answer he still wanted to be certain about it.

"Yes, we had one mission together, just before I was locked up." Cody briefly answered.

"How was he?" Wrecker came over and asked. He was closest with him, of course, he wanted to know how his brother was doing.

"He wasn't doing well, mentally I mean. He was ruthless, but he wasn't fully heartedly agreeing with being in the empire. His chip really must've gotten him badly."

"Didn't he say that he got his removed?" Omega asked if she had remembered the whole situation correctly.

"What?" He was convinced that the inhibitor chip explains his morals but now with that information he had no idea what to think of Crosshair, he always had him for a smart person but to consciously follow orders wasn't what Cody expected from him. "You helped him with that?"

"No. He didn't tell us any details about this besides Rex being the one to help all of us." Hunter explained quickly, trying to avoid the topic of Crosshair.

"Yeah, he was one of if not the first one to remove his chip." Wrecker added to what his brother just said.

"We should get going. This planet isn't ideal for reunions. I'd prefer if you could move to the Marauder and continue on rather than risk getting shot by the Empire." Tech pointed out when he realized that this conversation could carry on for some time, at least for long enough to risk death.

Without a word of protest against this statement, all of the clones went to their spacecraft.

"Rex? Are you okay?" Cody asked when he entered the med bay of Marauder.

"Yes, but I got to say that was an impressive move, I only might guess where you learned it. Overall I'm lucky you had your rifle in stun mode." Rex forced out a chuckle as he tried to cheer his brother up, he knew how guilty he felt after attacking Ahsoka.

Cody signed in relief, that no one was injured.

"So how were you doing while working for the Empire?"

"It wasn't ideal, to say the least. Us clones were treated similarly as I've heard when some of our brothers were under command of Pong Krell, expendable. But I've met some familiar faces. I had one mission with Crosshair, after it was told that I deserted which was partially true but, in reality, I ended up in imperial prison and with some luck, I managed to escape, and that's when I contacted you."

"That adds up."

"Wrecker told me you removed your chip not long after order 66 had started, did you know how to do it?"

"Not exactly, Ahsoka helped me. We were in hyperspace, returning to Coruscant when it happened. She found an old record from Fives about it and just from that she brought me to med bay and did the procedure."

"Ahsoka is alive? Could there be any more Jedi who survived?" Cody's eyes lit up in hopefulness.

"There aren't many of them. But if you're asking whether or not general Kenobi survived then yes, he went into hiding."

"I-" Cody cut himself off knowing that his brother wouldn't stop teasing him about it. Besides, he was just happy to hear the news, and he couldn't hide the faint smile that appeared on his face. "Thank you."

Rex chuckled under his breath. "Alright, loverboy, where to?" He asked as he walked up to a map of a galaxy.

That was a question Cody hadn't thought about. There were so many options but at the same time, most of the planets were taken over by the Empire. "Where would I go?" He asked himself but the question wasn't truly referring to him but rather to his general.

"Tatooine." Clone commander said after some time. He remembered one of many conversations he had with the general in during the time of th Republic. But this one was particularly stuck in his memory.

Cody still clearly remembers how they were in hyperspace, heading to Utapau. They were sitting near the bridge in a command room as usual during this type of mission, clones were hanging out there together, occasionally joined by their general. A few hours had passed and before they knew it the chatter stopped as almost all of the clones went to their quarters. Just then they realized they were the only ones there. The silence between them felt a bit uncomfortable, both of them avoiding looking at one another.

"What do you think will happen after the war?" Cody asked, trying to not only start a conversation with the general but also he wanted to know what were his views about this.

"I'm not sure but I do hope that all of you will be free without the Republic always in need of an army, I'll try to convince the rest of the Jedi council to agree to this. But that could only happen after all the separatists were dealt with." Obi-Wan answered, there was a certainty in his voice as he spoke that this will work out.

"What about you, sir?"

"I haven't really thought about this. As a Jedi we are peacekeepers, we'll need to look out for anything that could lead to another war."

"Oh." They went quiet again, but Cody wasn't quite satisfied with the answer he had gotten. "So nothing would change for you?"

"I believe so." Obi-Wan signed.

"How about we go on a vacation together, when the war will be over?" Cody asked not realizing how personal that sounds but he decided to brush it off after all what they had was beyond being just acquaintances. "Where would you like to go?"

"I've always wanted to visit Tatooine, I've been there several times but I would like to stay there for some time especially since it rarely rains there." He answered unironically.

"Tatooine it is." Cody chuckled, he looked at his general and saw him smiling, he wasn't sure about this due to the lightning from the holo map but he thought that Obi-Wan was blushing. Trying to figure out what he thought was true he kept staring and examining the face and expressions of another man, looked back at the hologram. A few minutes had passed and neither of them said a word.

"I'm going to sleep." Obi-Wan finally said and placed his hand on Cody's shoulder. "You should also get some rest, tomorrow will be quite a challenging day for both of us." He smiled lightly, but it was visible how tired the Jedi was.

Cody nodded but in the end, he stayed up for a few more hours, thinking about their planned vacation. Little did he know he had no idea what would happen the next day.

Clone Force 99 was concerned about landing on a heavily imperial planet, thus they agreed on stopping on a nearby planet from where Cody could get to a public cruiser that was heading to Tatooine as well as get more civilian clothes because as they briefly talk it through the imperial armor of a clone would be too recognizable and making his fake code so he could get past the imperial officers at the landing zone. Just before they said their goodbyes, Rex had given Cody his Holoprojector in case of wanting to take part in a mission to retrieve more of their brothers from the hands of the Empire.

With a slight delay, Cody managed to get to a public cruiser that was heading to Tatooine. It wasn't a long flight but at that time Cody tried to think of what he wanted to say to his general. As the cruiser was approaching the surface Cody looked through the window and saw two unmistakable suns appear on the horizon. When the light from them reflected from the hilt of the familiar weapon, he realized that he had been stroking with his thumb. Without gloves on, the lightsaber felt different than all the times he had handed it back to his general when they meet. Now he could feel every grove, every scratch on the metal, indicating what this weapon has been through. Cody couldn't imagine what Obi-Wan had been through.

"This weapon is your life." He remembered that the Jedi had always been telling his padawan that sentence. Although general was repeating this phrase quite frequently, he probably had lost his lightsaber the same amount of times. His commander was always there to hand it back to him. But this time he wasn't fighting beside him, he ordered his legion to kill him. Cody couldn't help but to feel disappointed by his choice, even though he now knew that his actions were driven by the inhibitor chip.

Finally, the public cruiser landed on a landing platform on Tatooine near Mos Eisley. Cody left the vehicle and fixed his hood from the poncho he was wearing to be less recognizable; with over two million people that look and sound the same, this might've been harder than it seemed. Nevertheless, he only needed to show his fake documents to the stormtroopers controlling the official landing zone, who weren't suspecting anything from his behavior which was oddly unusual in the Outer Rim.

Nearly a week has passed since Cody landed on the desert planet, and he still hasn't found his general. He began to lose all of his hope, but every time he thought about that he just reached out for his backpack, and by looking at the lightsaber that was hidden there he managed to remind himself of not giving up just now.

One day when he was staying in Anchorhead he saw a familiar figure heading down the streets. Cody decided to follow them.

After few minutes Cody had no doubt in who this person was, he knew that he can't to reveal their identity in public so he managed to quickly think of his plan of action. "Move." Cody ordered, making sure that Obi-Wan was able to feel a blaster pointing at his back. Jedi flinched as soon as he recognized the voice, last time he heard it all the clones were following order 66. "Blast them!" He vividly remembered Cody's voice, his tone, his accent. This one was no different. Obi-Wan followed the command, and with a blaster still, at his back, he was led to one of the alleys where no people were in sight.

Cody lowered his blaster "Turn around." He asked rather than ordered as before. His general turned towards him. Obi-Wan as much as he tried he couldn't hide the faint smile when he saw that his beloved commander was alive and well.

"Cody, good to see you." He greeted him.

"General. I was hoping to find you here." He looked into the eyes of another man, he missed the sight of them, there was always kindness in them which he found comforting in the time of war.

"What happened to you?" Obi-Wan asked, quite concerned about Cody's behavior and the situation they last saw each other in.

"It's a long story. We can't talk about it now but I had to go into hiding now that I'm a deserter."

"Have others managed to escape?"

"Yes, Clone Force 99 did along with Rex and Gregor."

"That's good to hear you're not the only one."

"Do you have any base of operations here?"

"I could hardly call it that way.” He chuckled dryly. "Come closer." Obi-Wan said quieter.

Cody did so and was pulled into a hug. Obi-Wan placed his hand on the back of another one's head and gently directed it to place it on the Jedi's shoulder. Cody's body relaxed from the embrace.

"I am-" Clone started, keeping a low voice but not to the extent that would be considered a whisper.

"Shhh." Obi-Wan quieted him down.

Another few seconds had passed and the former Jedi slightly stepped away from Cody.

"They're gone now." Obi-Wan sent Cody a smile of reassurance.

"Thank you." Cody returned a smile although he felt lied to. He was sure that Obi-Wan was hugging him because of his affection towards him. At least that's what he wanted to believe in.

"I have to go now so if you'll excu-" The Jedi had gone silent when Cody reached for his hand, he felt the warmth of another one's fingers as they were brushing against his palm. A cold metal that Cody placed in Obi-Wan's hand caused him to snap back from being focused on the feeling he was yearning for since the end of the war.

"I can't take it."

"This weapon is your life." He quoted him, almost begging Obi-Wan to take it.

"I abandoned this life a long time ago."

"It will keep you safe." When I can't. Cody wanted to add but it was too soon for that.

Obi-Wan thought for a second before he proposed an idea. "I cannot take it. But I know where we can leave it and you and I will always know where it is." He proposed a solution to which Cody agreed.

Obi-Wan knew it was a reckless idea to invite his old friend to the location he was hiding in from the ones that might recognize him, he chose and still trusted the one who tried to kill him.

Both of them tried to attempt small talk but it mostly ended in one sentence response rather than leading to a longer conversation, as they would during the times of the Republic. Obi-Wan hoped that if they would stay in contact and repair their friendship, the moments like spending countless hours just talking with each other would return naturally.

"What was that what you wanted to say back in the alley, dear?" Obi-Wan suddenly asked.

I didn't just mishear it right? Cody asked himself, trying to hide how off-guard it caught him.

"I am truly sorry for what happened on Utapau." He answered from the bottom of his heart. There wasn't any better way to phrase it, he wanted to be straightforward, without seeming like he was justifying his actions.

"Right." Obi-Wan answered avoiding the topic. He slightly turned his eyes down to avoid looking at another man.

Suddenly the atmosphere between them got extremely heavy and uncomfortable. They managed to get to Obi-Wan’s cave and he prepared a meal for both of them. They were eating their meal in silence trying not to show how much attention they paid to one another.

Both suns began to set, Obi-wan sat in the entrance to the cave and stared into the distance, catching the last strokes of the sunlight that day. Cody noticed another man lost in his thoughts, he decided to join him. He approached Obi-wan and sat beside him.

"I forgive you, Cody." Obi-wan said, breaking the silence between them for the first time since they have eaten dinner.

Clone turned his head to look at the man who spoke.

"It's just…" He trailed off.

"You don't have to say anything." Cody attempted to give him space, but the topic of a near-death experience by the ones he trusted was not a light topic for him.

"No. I want to talk to you about this."

Cody gave him a small nod of understanding.

"I had plans about life after the war I just wasn't sure what you'll think about me."

This was a surprise for Cody, he couldn’t believe there could be anything that would make him think differently of general. "Alright, tell me about it."

"I was going to leave the Jedi Order, serving the Republic was the only thing keeping me there. Besides, Anakin and Ahsoka were quite mature enough not to babysit them anymore. So it got me thinking about what if I'd move to a less crowded planet away from the inner rim. I would live a peaceful life there, maybe even own a farm."

"That sounds wonderful."

"It would be if I had someone besides me there, someone who I trust, who I have known for a long time, who isn't bothered by my company, and who will no matter what give me back a purpose to live for.”

Oh.

Oh.

"General are you implying that-"

"Yes, Cody."

Cody hesitantly cupped Obi-wan's face with both of his hands and locked eyes with him. Their gaze softened, both only focused on the man in front of them, Cody leaned in and pressed their foreheads together. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and relaxed under the touch. They found their peace, a moment of joy during the time of war. Both of them wished this would last longer but Obi-Wan pulled away.

They looked at each other once again, both of them couldn't stop staring at one another, noticing a more detailed feature of their faces and being absolutely mesmerized by it.

"I love you." He whispered unintentionally as if they weren't alone.

"I love you too, Obi-Wan." Kenobi was caught off guard just by hearing his first name being said by the man who was under his command before the Republic had fallen.

Cody noticed their close proximity, he had a moment of courage and leaned forward a bit indicating what he wanted to do when they met again. "Can I?" He asked.

Obi-Wan simply nodded and returned the hug that was given to him. It has been so long since he last had that kind of moment of intimacy with anyone that practically melted under the touch of another man. He wanted to share a moment like this with Cody for years, to hold each other in their arms, listening to each other's heartbeat.

For a moment all of their problems seemed to disappear, they were only focused on each other, and how they couldn't even think before that they would share a moment like this until Cody pulled away.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay with you for so long" He admitted straight away, he felt as if he was using Obi-Wan at that moment for his own desire for physical contact he didn’t have in a long time, but in reality, he couldn't see to let go of his feeling towards another man "There are more of my brother's just like me, doubting the Empire, wanting freedom."

"I understand." Obi-Wan said, he understood completely it, if he could he would try to save Anakin. "We could try to make the most of those days, and maybe we could even live together as a couple."

"As a couple you say?"

"Only if you'd like to."

"I'd love to."

And so days passed, they did things they could only dream about when the Republic still existed such as going to sleep and cuddling with each other then in the morning waking up next to one another and looking upon the face of another man with a peaceful expression illuminated by the strokes of light as the suns were rising. Obi-Wan would go to work for his morning shift and when he was supposed to come back, Cody before going to the town to accompany him as he was heading home, he'd make sure to prepare something to eat for them afterward. Then they had time to do whatever they wanted, which ended up telling stories from their past or from the two years they were apart from each other, or eventually just staying together in comfortable silence. This was what Obi-Wan had imagined and almost all he could've dreamed of.

But every good thing had to come to an end.

It was the middle of the night when Cody was woken up by his holoprojector, he left the bed after a moment of trying to unwrap himself from Obi-Wan's hug as delicately as he possibly could. He swiftly threw on his poncho as the temperatures at night were quite low, and walked up to the entrance of the cave and answered the call. He saw the hologram of Rex waiting for him.

"What is it?" Cody asked, trying not to yawn midway through the sentence.

Rex took a quick glance at him and raised his eyebrows but didn't ask any questions.

"We've managed to find a Star Destroyer that will be transporting our brothers who, like us, are deserters. If we move quick enough we may be able to help them escape." He answered.

"Where should I go to help you?" Cody asked again without much thought. He wanted to help as many brothers as he could.

"We should manage to enter the atmosphere in a few hours so you can expect us before noon on the outskirts of Anchorhead as you suggested a few days before. We'll meet in town."

"Okay, thank you, Rex."

"No problem, glad to have you on board." Rex smiled at him, right before the holoprojector shut off.

Cody went deeper into the cave, took off his poncho, and laid back down next to Obi-Wan, thinking how this was the last night they'll spend together for some time.

"Good morning, Cody." Obi-Wan said after he woke up and noticed that the man beside him wasn't asleep.

"Morning.” He responded plainly.

Obi-Wan took notice of that but decided not to ask right away about it.

Nearly an hour had passed as they finished eating their breakfast, casually talking.

“Have you slept well?” Obi-Wan asked as he noticed that Cody still seemed a bit distant from him.

“No, no really,” Cody answered honestly, there was no point in denying that and the reason for it. “In the middle of the night, Rex had called me. He told me they located more deserters that are being held captive. If we’ll be quick we might have a chance to help them.”

“So, that means you’re going to help them?”

“Yes… I’m sorry.” He didn’t want to leave his partner, especially since they managed to make things that they weren't expecting in their further relationship to work but he knew how ruthless the empire was and he wanted to do anything in his power to help others.

“Don’t be, you’re a good man, I’m glad that you wouldn't abandon your brothers.” Obi-Wan smiled at him as they continued on with their conversation as if there wasn’t any mention of Cody leaving.

It was time to say goodbye, and neither of them wanted to start. But as the time passed they knew that it was only a matter of time before they would have a moment to do so. Cody knew he had to leave now and they still hadn't said a word about it.

"Obi-Wan." Cody started to get his attention.

"Yes, dear?" He asked and turned towards Cody who was now ready for departure.

"I believe it is a goodbye."

"Very well then." Obi-Wan said and gently pressed their foreheads together. He felt like it wasn't enough, he wanted to give Cody something that he would remember and the thing he probably looked forward to.

Obi-Wan moved his head back and lowered it a little, and pressed his and Cody's lips together in a short kiss.

For both of them, this gesture meant a lot, Cody who gave up on wanting to have a love life because of what he thought unrequited love, and Obi-Wan the man who rarely felt any kind of attraction despite flirting with many people, after many years of struggle found a person who was different from any other, who made him feel something that he thought he left in the past.

“Ret'urcye mhi ner kar'taylir darasuum.” Cody said when they parted away.

Obi-Wan nodded, he knew what it meant. “May the force be with you, darling.” He responded.

With that Cody turned around and headed to the town, he looked back and saw Obi-Wan still looking in his direction. He looked back forward again, smiling to himself. He never knew he had a chance to be loved romantically by someone, especially with millions of clones that looked almost exactly the same.

Obi-Wan waited days, weeks and even months for his partner to return, each day he hoped that that day was the one when he would see him again. He was certain that this day had come when he saw a y-wing landing on the eyesight from his cave. Obi-Wan wanted to run towards it just to meet Cody as soon as possible after their time away from each other. It wasn’t a wise idea, so he waited, those few more minutes couldn’t hurt him.

The figure approached the cave. “General?” A familiar voice said, but it wasn’t Cody.

Obi-Wan went to see who it was. He recognized the clone, and he asked surprised by seeing him here, especially since he was on a mission along with Cody. “Rex? What are you doing here?”

“Hello, general. Cody asked us to come here and inform you in case something goes wrong.”

“In what case?” Obi-Wan was beginning to be even more concerned about his partner than he was before. “Where is Cody?” He asked, it was the question he didn't want to ask but was all that he needed to know what was going on.

“He… He was shot during the battle, we tried to get him to medbay but it was too late.” Rex answered, struggling to pick right words for it.

The world for Obi-Wan seemed to stop, despite Rex continuing to talk all that he heard was It was too late. He had lost people in the past, and he knew about the danger Cody was heading into, yet he felt as if the world had crumbled right before his eyes, again.

Rex left not long after, all he was left with was the feeling of emptiness, he didn’t have anything to look forward to, until one day as he was returning home he heard laughter from the Lars farm. He turned his head and saw Luke sitting in front of the farm playing with his toys. Something shifted in Obi-Wan at that moment, he had something to live for. In a few years, he will teach this little boy about the Force, Clone Wars, and Jedi Order.