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Quinlan cursed as he rushed up to the Separatists.
Obi-Wan's plan was brilliant as always, with a few minor additions made by Quinlan. Nothing should have gone wrong.
But in spectacular fashion, of course it had gone wrong. Whether because that was just the way things went for Obi-Wan, how they sometimes went for Quinlan, or the track record of bad intel causing problems lately.
The result was that Cody and a few others were captured by the Separatists, who were now holding them hostage in the middle of a battle.
Quinlan skidded to a stop in front of them.
"Let them go," he said, lightsaber at the ready.
"Jedi... no. We will kill them if you do not stop this battle and leave this planet."
Quinlan glanced around the area, looking for ideas.
"Why? It's not like you're going to let them leave with us."
"Because we will not let this base get taken, and if this is the best way, so be it."
Quinlan tilted his head, considering. That meant that there was intel on this planet they were protecting.
He glanced at the troopers. They were all hurt, blood visible. A few, including Cody, had lost their buckets and were sporting head wounds.
They wouldn't last, even if a secret mission was set to rescue them. Not that it would be easily approved by the Chancellor or the Senators who approved such things.
"Let them go."
"No."
"I am Jedi Master Quinlan Vos," Quinlan said, meeting the gaze of the one in charge. "If you let them go, you can have me instead. The Senate and the Chancellor don't care about the clones. You keep them alive, and no one will come for them, or negotiate. You keep me alive..."
"Vos? You're the spy!"
Quinlan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was a shadow, not a spy.
Before the war, he generally only went undercover once a year and it rarely lasted more than a month. The rest of the time was spent in investigations where he didn't reveal he was a Jedi if it wasn't necessary.
He really did not like how much he'd been undercover, basically being a spy, since the war started.
"So what if I am?" he asked, tilting his head. "I'm still a Jedi."
"A very important Jedi... you have put a wrench into too many of our plans!"
Quinlan sensed their glee and held in a sigh. Ah, that's what was going on. He could work with that.
"Oh, right, that. I'm just doing my job. Again, let them go and you can have me."
"Deal!"
Quinlan set his lightsaber down. "I won't go to you until you've let them go and they've had a chance to escape."
"Of course. Jedi," he muttered.
Cody and the others were released. They didn't have any weapons.
Quinlan waited for them to start moving, then rolled his lightsaber to the Separatists.
He could see that Cody wanted to protest but shook his head at Cody.
Cody sighed and kept moving, reluctantly, hanging back to make sure all his troopers weren't falling behind.
Once they were far enough away, Quinlan went to the Separatists with his hands up.
As soon as he reached them, there was pain. He had been stabbed with his own lightsaber.
Quinlan collapsed to the ground, groaning. His hands covered the wound.
"Finally... we have you Vos, and this time, you won't escape."
Quinlan ignored them and checked on Cody and his troopers. They were a good distance away. Good.
He hissed when one of the Separatists grabbed his leg and started dragging him. He hated it when he was dragged around. It always hurt. But, at least Cody and the others were safe.
Now he just needed a plan. If they didn't kill him quickly. A plan that hopefully didn't make his wound worse.
.
Cody watched with horror as Quinlan was dragged away. He was injured.
And he was injured because of Cody and the others of the 212th. To protect them.
Quinlan had traded himself for them.
Cody was amazed but worried. In the grand scheme of things, he and the others didn't mean much. So why would Quinlan, one of their best investigators, want to risk it for them?
Cody had heard rumors about how crazy Quinlan was, he had heard from Fox how annoying Quinlan could be. There were undercurrents of fondness and some people would acknowledge that he could be good at his job. But over all, the rumors were mostly negative.
So the first time Quinlan joined the 212th for a mission, Cody was apprehensive and not sure what to expect. He knew Obi-Wan seemed to be looking forward to it, like Quinlan wasn't someone bad to work with. Even if Obi-Wan was exasperated by Quinlan.
Cody hadn't expected to get along with Quinlan so well, or to like him so much.
He hadn't expected to like Quinlan so much that it hurt to see the Jedi get hurt and dragged away.
Cody got everyone to safety and reported to Obi-Wan once they had all been checked out.
Obi-Wan seemed pleased by this turn of events.
Cody looked confused.
"It's not ideal that he's injured, of course," Obi-Wan explained. "But him being the one the Separatists have means we can go after him, whereas going after you and the others would be facing all kinds of scrutiny and probably denied if we asked permission. There's also the fact that Quinlan is resourceful. He will be looking for intel while he's there, and we can do the same on the way in."
That made a lot more sense. Cody helped Obi-Wan plan the rescue but he wasn't able to go. The medics wouldn't clear him after the bump to his head.
Obi-Wan paused before they left. "Tell Manner to look at Quinlan's files carefully. Quin is a Kiffar, he's not human. He needs different things than humans do. Including someone at least holding his hand if not cuddling while he is healing."
Cody nodded, a bit confused. "I will."
He watched Obi-Wan and the squad he picked leave before going to Manner, the head medic.
Manner read over the files and frowned, going over in more detail, then cross referencing what he could find on the holonet about Kiffar.
Cody watched, as he had nothing better to do. He shouldn't have even helped plan the rescue, let alone be in charge of the 212th while they waited for Obi-Wan to return. Instead, he left other officers in charge of keeping everything running smoothly.
Manner finally put the files down. "Alright, how do you feel about Vos?"
Cody shrugged. "He's not bad. A bit obnoxious, but he backs off if anyone sets boundaries, so he's not disrespectful or hanging on people that don't want him to. I know General Kenobi is fond of him, though he doesn't always show it. He's got some weird quirks, though."
Manner nodded. "Alright, confidential medical information, I cannot tell you the details. But I need you to have someone double check all rations and food for artificial sweeteners and ensure he never gets those. I also need someone besides General Kenobi willing to cuddle with him regularly, as it looks like just hand holding is not the best case scenario. Whoever can cuddle and General Kenobi can alternate. I do not want General Kenobi to have to be with him for most of every day."
Cody blinked, wondering what that was about.
No artificial sweeteners certainly explained why he was so picky about his food (according to Fox) and why he always seemed to be double checking labels.
"I can handle that, I think," Cody said hesitantly. "I don't mind much."
"Good. No need to involve anyone else, then."
Cody nodded. He hoped Quinlan was going to be okay.
.
When Obi-Wan returned with Quinlan unconscious, he seemed rather pleased, if quite a bit worried.
Apparently Quinlan had already started figuring out the best way to pick up intel and take the base before they even arrived. It made things a lot easier for Obi-Wan, but unfortunately, Quinlan was too injured in the chaos of following the plan to stay conscious.
Cody had already completed all his reports, so he volunteered to cuddle with Quinlan once everything was taken care of so Obi-Wan could do all his reports.
Cody wasn't supposed to be on duty until morning anyway. He needed rest.
And so, Cody ended up in bed with Quinlan, cuddling and dozing.
Quinlan was going to survive but he was going to have a long recovery, even if they could get him to a bacta tank, since apparently he couldn't do more than two hours at a time due to his need for touch with healing.
The next morning, Quinlan still hadn't woken up. Cody stayed with him, idly playing with his hair out of sheer boredom.
If anyone caught him, he would have denied it.
But... he liked Quinlan's hair, and playing with it was nice.
Quinlan mumbled sleepily and turned towards Cody.
Cody froze.
Quinlan's eyes opened after a few minutes. He blinked a few times. "...Cody? What're you doing here?"
"Cuddling."
"Huh. Okay..." Quinlan shifted and hissed. "Ow. ...not as bad as I thought it was going to be though."
Cody winced and waved at the nearest medic, who went and got Manner.
"It looked like it hurt," Cody said quietly.
"Oh, yeah it did. Not the first time I've been stabbed by a lightsaber. First time my own got me, though."
Cody winced again.
Manner shooed Cody off of the bed, but told him he could hold Quinlan's hand if he wanted.
Cody shrugged and did so. His face grew hot at the surprised look Quinlan gave him. He wasn't sure why he wanted to do it, he just did. Quinlan was nice, he was fond of Quinlan, really. Even if he wouldn't really admit it to anyone.
After a few minutes of discussion that Cody politely tried to tune out and otherwise pretended he wasn't listening to, he returned to Quinlan's side.
"So... why are you here?" Quinlan asked once Manner had walked away.
"G-Obi-Wan insisted I tell Manner to read your files thoroughly, and Manner didn't want him to be the only one to be cuddling, so I volunteered."
"Huh. Okay." Quinlan settled in, leaning on Cody. "Nice that he was thorough... makes things a lot easier. Not everyone believes anything I say when I try to get what I need."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm used to it."
Cody did not like the way Quinlan said that.
"But... Thanks for sticking around. It's nice. Were you playing with my hair?" Quinlan asked.
Cody looked away, very embarrassed. "Yes... I was. It feels nice."
Quinlan grinned. "I know. You playing with my hair felt really nice.”
"It did?"
"Yeah. Want to do it some more? I don't mind."
"Alright." Cody tentatively placed his hand back on Quinlan's head.
Quinlan closed his eyes and leaned in.
Cody smiled and resumed playing with his hair.
.
Quinlan healed.
Cody didn't stop allowing Quinlan to cuddle, never re-establishing his old boundaries. He quite liked cuddling with Quinlan, especially when he got to play with Quinlan's hair.
Quinlan for his part was thrilled to have another safe person for cuddling, and he quite enjoyed the friendship that grew from it.
Even if he sometimes felt like there was something more, something indescribable to how he and Cody interacted.
Cody felt the same way. But neither spoke of it. They were content as they were. Even when Obi-Wan started teasing them.
After the war, Cody hung out with his brothers regularly.
They talked and enjoyed spending time together.
One time, in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, Quinlan spotted Cody and made a beeline for the group.
More than one person groaned. They did not want to deal with Quinlan and his chaos. Almost all of them had experience with Quinlan in the past.
Cody just grinned at Quinlan as Quinlan dramatically threw himself on Cody's lap and gave him a pleading look.
Cody chuckled and started playing with Quinlan's hair.
Quinlan pulled out a book and started reading.
Everyone stared.
Cody ignored the stares, and continued to play with Quinlan's hair as he resumed the conversation.