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Cody remembered Order 66 like it was a dream. He watched himself from far away as he ordered his own general shot down, then a search for the body to be sure he was dead.
He watched as he continued to go about his duty, all strange and stiff.
He watched as the Empire rose, and CC-2224 was demoted from commander. No clones were left as commanders, or of any rank. They were cannon fodder. Unless they were able to perform a specialized task, but then, others were in charge of them.
Of course they were. With the chips in place, they were little more than droids.
Cody fought to be able to control his body again, but he continued to be in a dreamlike state, until suddenly he broke through and it was like breaking free of water.
He was on a planet on a mission. There was no one around him.
He promptly stripped himself of everything that could lead the Empire to him. He only kept the blasters after double checking them, and then he took off for the nearest city. Once there he purchased a hoodie and then found a way off the planet.
It was only once he was safely in space that it hit him. He was free of the Empire.
The euphoria of that only lasted a few minutes before he was sobbing and grieving all he had lost.
He had lost his general. He had lost his brothers. He knew there were many still alive, but he had seen the files, he knew many of them were dead. Including Rex.
Cody allowed himself the amount of time it took to get to a planet that would be safe to regain his bearings.
He then took up a job quickly and spent time processing all that had happened.
With everything being like a dream, it hadn't felt real while it was happening, not until he broke through the control.
He slowly regained some sense of self, and built his life up again.
Once he felt stable, Cody let his hair grow out a bit and grew the mustache he always said he wouldn't.
Quinlan had always teased him and told him he would look good in one. Cody was in denial. He didn't like the way anyone kept their mustaches.
As he grew his mustache out, he found a way to keep it that he liked. And he did look good with it. Though he did have to cover up his scar at least partially. He didn't want people to be able to recognize him on sight, or to be able to pin anything on him specifically because of the scar.
Every time he looked at himself in the mirror, Cody thought of Quinlan and there was a new wave of grief.
Quinlan was on the list of dead. He died on Kashyyk, the only Jedi stationed there to die in the initial attack. Yoda had escaped and was still at large. Cody vaguely recalled seeing something about Luminara. The fourth Jedi there had only lasted a year before he was found and killed.
Cody missed him.
Eventually, Cody found his way to the planet where they had a mission together.
He ended up staying for a few months, taking up odd jobs, lost in memories as he tried to pull himself together.
Quinlan had needed a competent clone to join him, and out of all the options, had decided on Cody.
Cody had been bewildered at what Quinlan saw in him that made him think Cody could handle an undercover mission with the embodiment of chaos.
When he learned that Quinlan had grown up with Obi-Wan, it clicked. Cody got along with Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan had probably told Quinlan more about Cody than what records would show.
They ended up kissing in the heat of the moment in the middle of a firefight, and nearly got killed for it.
Quinlan had given him a soft smile, and then a teasing grin before jumping back into the fight.
Cody had managed not to stare after him dazedly and resumed the fight as well.
They didn't actually talk about the kiss until the mission was over. They were still on planet when Quinlan pulled Cody in for another kiss.
Cody had been uncertain. He hadn't even realized he'd been feeling feelings until they kissed the first time.
Quinlan was understanding and patient, explaining how relationships worked, how they worked for Jedi, and then they discussed their options.
They settled for keeping it secret aside from need to know. Basically, that meant that Obi-Wan knew, and so did a few of the others on the Council, and no one else.
Cody didn't want to tell his brothers immediately anyway, knowing the teasing that would come of it. They didn't need to know, and beyond the teasing, most wouldn't even understand how he ended up with someone like Quinlan.
But Quinlan was so much more than they saw. He was patient and kind, and he was actually rather good at his job despite the chaotic persona he adapted.
Quinlan was chaos, but he was far less chaotic than he presented himself, which meant he was often greatly underestimated.
The rest of the war they would meet up and exchange secret kisses, often with Obi-Wan's amused voice giving them warnings when others were about to be around so they could break it off and act innocent.
Cody ended up constructing a memorial for Quinlan in the spot where they first kissed, which thankfully was not a well traversed spot.
He was careful not to make it obvious, carving Quinlan's name along the side of one of the branches he stuck in the pile of rocks he built on the spot.
He would leave flowers every time he stopped by the planet after that, sometimes adding little things to the memorial he knew Quinlan would like.
Cody considered visiting Kiffu but they were even more closed off after the Empire rose than before. He decided to leave them alone rather than risk drawing trouble to their planet.
Instead, he was a wanderer who would help all those in need.
Before he knew it, it was five years since he got out of the Empire, which meant it had been seven years since he lost everything.
He returned to the planet on another visit.
After he arrived, Cody had a dream. It was a very nice dream, where Quinlan greeted him and they were able to have their secret kisses and be together.
He woke up and cried.
He went to the memorial with more flowers than usual
Cody sat down next to the pile of rocks, tracing his fingers down Quinlan's name. He smiled a little. Quinlan would hate for him to wallow.
"I dreamt you were alive." He sipped at the drink and made a face. It was Quinlan's favorite caf concoction. It wasn't terrible, but it always took Cody by surprise because it didn't really taste like caf anymore and yet it was actually pretty good.
He sighed. "I miss you, Quin. It was a nice dream... just us doing our usual secret kisses and hanging out... only it was now, and we were spending all our time together, going out and saving lives as much as we could without drawing the Empire's attention and... well. It was nice. I love the idea... but... you died as soon as the Order went out, just like Obi-Wan." Cody swallowed. "Who's dead because of me. I know it was the chip, it was like watching myself in a dream, but I still betrayed him and he's dead." Cody rubbed his eyes. He had never been able to bring himself to look at Obi-Wan's file, to see that he was dead and know that it was his fault. He didn't need to see the file to know what he had done.
"Well... the dream was nice. Reality hit as soon as I woke up. I'm glad I was here... it's easier to calm down and process those emotions when I'm here. I feel closer to you this way." Cody looked down at his caf. "I miss you so much. I think I love you. You... you meant a lot to me, and we got along so well, we never argued about what our duty meant to us, we both knew what choice we would make if it came down to it. Better than some other dramas I heard about... but you're gone now. And I'm alone. My brothers are dead. My general is dead. And those who are still alive... they are under the control of the chip and I don't even know where to begin to save them. The Empire kept such a tight control over us..."
Cody sighed. He finished the caf. He then rearranged the flowers.
"I'm just going to keep being that wanderer that saves people and disappears. I can't sit back and do nothing, but I don't want the Empire to get me either. I just hope I'm making enough of a difference... There seems to be several different movements that are helping too, so I help them out as much as I can. I know it's what you would do, and it's what Obi-Wan would do. I've always admired that about you two." Cody smiled, thinking about how much Quinlan and Obi-Wan always tried to help everyone around them. They might not appear like they were, there might be snarky, sarcastic comments along the way, especially if they were working together, but they always aimed to help as many people as they could.
Then Cody sighed. "I should probably move on... I miss you, Quin. I wish that dream were real." He placed his hand on the branch one last time before leaving the rest of his caf at the bottom of the rocks.
Cody left without looking back. Back to his usual wandering life.
.
Quinlan almost died in an explosion. If he hadn't found the perfect shelter, he would have.
It was to his advantage that it meant that the Empire thought he had died.
It gave him time to process and grieve that the clones had turned on him. That he had felt thousands of Jedi die over the course of a day. All of them crying out in the Force from the shock and betrayal.
It nearly sent him to the Dark side again.
Quinlan didn't shove his grief and pain away like he wanted to. That would only make things worse.
Instead he did his best to work through the emotions and learn to live with what had happened as quickly as he could.
He couldn't Fall, but he couldn't sit back and do nothing either.
He had to be functional and quick.
He ended up back in the Temple not long after. He was doing his best to remain unnoticed when he found a group of initiates huddled in the room he and Obi-Wan used to plan pranks in.
Quinlan wasn't alone. There were still survivors.
They were younglings.
Quinlan had to get them to safety. He had to figure out how to help them stay alive.
And he needed to do it without alerting the Empire to any Jedi surviving.
Quinlan found his way to Dex's Diner. If there was anyone left to trust on Coruscant, it was Dex.
Dex did a double take and without a word hugged Quinlan before hugging each of the younglings.
That night, Quinlan and Dex formulated a plan to get the younglings off of Coruscant and to a safe place, thanks to the combination of their contacts.
That night, the Path was created.
Quinlan had a purpose. He couldn't wallow, no matter how much he wanted to.
There were younglings that relied on him staying alive and in the Light. He would not fail them.
He went back to the Temple several times, looking for survivors. Until it was too risky. Then he stopped going back to the Temple.
But Quinlan never stopped searching for survivors as he created more and more safe houses and brought more people into the Path. It was a nice way to spend time.
One day, years after the end of the war, he found himself on a familiar planet.
Once his business was done, but before he left, he wandered the areas he remembered. He was in no real hurry.
He stopped when he found a pile of rocks and a branch stuck in the middle. Closer inspection showed his name.
He frowned. What was that doing here? There didn't seem to be any messages, and why right there?
Quinlan didn't want to get his hopes up.
He set up something to record everything that happened, and left.
He periodically checked it, but there wasn't anything interesting.
Then came the day he was checked the recordings. He was about to turn it back off and find some other way to occupy himself when he heard it.
"I dreamt you were alive."
His heart skipped a beat. Was it Cody?
He checked the recording. He couldn't see enough to know if it was Cody, but he knew that Cody would cover up anything identifying.
He definitely could tell that it was a clone.
Listening to Cody speak, he knew for sure, it was Cody. Cody believed he was dead.
Cody had fought off the control of the chip and was out in the galaxy.
Quinlan desperately wanted to drop everything and track down Cody.
But he had a duty, a responsibility. He couldn't.
Instead, Quinlan focused on the Path. On making sure younglings survived. He was now helping younglings who never had the opportunity to join the Order. Making sure they were safe from the Empire, and had ways to keep the Sith from sensing them.
He did try to see if he could track down Cody during his down time, but he didn't go out of his way to look for Cody either. If it was convenient, his current job was done, and he wasn't in a rush to leave, he did what he could to look for Cody.
He didn't find too many leads, but he did start realizing that many of the hero rumors he'd heard over the years could be traced back to Cody.
Quinlan wanted to reunite with Cody. But it wasn't to be. Not yet.
.
Cody heard rumors of Jedi on Tatooine, then shortly after he heard about Obi-Wan showing up, then disappearing once more.
Obi-Wan was alive.
Tatooine was Anakin's home planet. Obi-Wan might be there. He might be connected to the Jedi who had been found on Tatooine.
Cody had no reason not to check out Tatooine, so he headed there once he got over the shock.
He saw his general in the market picking up supplies and had to lean on the wall, relieved. He had not actually killed his general. Good.
Cody was content with that knowledge.
He hung around Tatooine for a few days, doing his usual routine of helping out in return for goods, so that he could help those who really needed it and could not afford it.
He was a bit surprised when helping a family out in exchange for nothing brought him face to face with Obi-Wan, though he was now going by Ben.
Cody was amused that Kenobi was just common enough of a last name that all Obi-Wan had to do was change his first name and no one recognized him. His first name was of course the more well known name.
"Cody?" Obi-Wan asked, hopeful and pleased.
Cody smiled. "Hi, General."
"It's Ben, Cody." Obi-Wan hugged him. "What are you doing here?"
"Heard some rumors, had a hunch you'd be here, wanted to see if you were really alive."
"Well, I am. And you are helping out?"
Cody shrugged. "I wander, these days. Just trying to help everyone I can. I couldn't stay in one place and try to live."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I understand. I have a reason for being here, but..."
"I won't ask. I understand." Cody smiled. He was very curious but it wouldn't do him any good to know.
Obi-Wan nodded. "How long are you going to stay?"
Cody shrugged. "Until I feel the need to move on. Usually that means I've helped as much as I can or I need supplies from other planets."
"That makes sense. I will be around. We can talk over dinner sometime."
Cody smiled. "Yeah, that sounds good."
Obi-Wan gave him another hug. "I'll see you later, then."
"See you later." Cody returned the hug and watched Obi-Wan leave.
A huge weight had been lifted off of him. He had not killed Obi-Wan. One of the best Jedi was still alive, just hiding away doing something important- of course he was.
Obi-Wan wouldn't be hiding away if he didn't have a responsibility to fulfill. Instead, he would be in the thick of saving as many people as possible all the time.
Cody focused on helping those he could.
One day there was a brawl in the streets. Pirates intent on poaching some of the people there, even though the Hutts would be most unimpressed.
Cody joined in, fighting off the pirates, until he was the only one left standing against them as the others got scared of their weapons. Until he was standing over their terrified targets, which included children.
He glared at the pirates. He eyed their blasters, but decided against making it a shootout. Too many innocents to get caught in the crossfire.
He pulled out his knives and spun them, thinking about the best way to fight them off. At the very least he could hold them off a bit longer.
People were finally starting to come to their senses and go hide. The less people around to witness this, the better.
Cody attacked the nearest pirate, taking him by surprise. The scuffle knocked his hood off his head.
He managed to knock out that pirate, barely dodging away from a blaster bolt as the pirates got over their shock.
"A clone! Oh, we can't kill him, we can get a lot of money if we have a clone on our hands."
Cody rolled his eyes and resumed fighting. He knew he was outnumbered. He knew the likelihood of winning was minimal.
But the poor children he was protecting were still frozen with fear, and no one was coming to drag them out.
Cody winced when he dropped down next to one of the children.
"Run!" he hissed. "Get out now!"
The children hesitated but soon they were scrambling and helping each other away, even the one who didn't want to leave him behind.
Cody sighed in relief. That made things a lot simpler.
He didn't get a chance to pull out his own blaster before his shoulder was hit. He grimaced and didn't let that stop him from fighting back. He still had a high pain tolerance.
He knocked out another pirate. He fought two more. The third pirate hit him with a stun bolt.
Cody went down.
.
Quinlan grumbled to himself as he chased off the last of the pirates. A few were dead, but he hated killing. As long as they ran away, he didn't care. Their danger was gone.
He stooped to check the man that had apparently been the only one brave enough to stand up to the pirates. At least, according to the hysterical people he encountered shortly after landing on Tatooine.
He blinked at the face of a clone, with a hint of a scar around his eye.
It couldn't be. Quinlan brushed a finger over the scar, and checked the Force. There was make up on his finger. The Force confirmed. It was Cody.
Quinlan picked up Cody and carried him to his ship. He ignored all comments. They hadn't done anything to help Cody, and he didn't trust the medical care on Tatooine when he could do better, thanks to some healing classes he took on occasion before the war.
Quinlan checked the wound left by the blaster bolt and started taking care of it gently. Once he was sure the bandage was secure, he checked on Cody's other, much more minor, injuries.
Once he was done, he sat back. Cody would be okay. He just needed to wake up.
Quinlan had arrived on Tatooine chasing rumors of Jedi, and suspecting this might have been where Obi-Wan had been hiding the entire time.
He hadn't expected to find Cody fighting off pirates to save the people the pirates were targeting. At his own risk.
Quinlan sighed, leaning forward. He still had a duty to perform while he was here. Making sure all younglings were as safe as can be, especially those most at risk from the Empire. Then, checking to see if there was anything he could do for the people of Tatooine and if he could establish a contact, if not a safe house here. He liked to have a contact on every planet. It made coordination go a lot smoother when it was necessary.
He couldn't spend time waiting for Cody to wake up, though he wanted to.
He scribbled out a note before leaving to start his quiet inquiries and searching. This was a familiar routine, at least.
When he returned, Cody hadn't woken yet.
Quinlan smiled. It was nice to see Cody again. He looked so peaceful sleeping like that.
But Quinlan was worried, remembering the recording he had seen. At least he had finally met up with Cody.
Maybe Cody would want to join him. Quinlan could not abandon his duty, but it sounded like Cody didn't have anything. Not like Quinlan did.
But Quinlan wasn't going to hold out hope.
He yawned and decided that he had done enough for the day. He joined Cody in bed and dropped an arm around him.
He fell asleep far faster than he was expecting.
.
Cody groaned as he woke up. He hated stun bolts. And ow, they had really beat him up.
Time to see what circumstances he was in. He opened his eyes and frowned. This... was not a pirate's ship as he expected.
There was an arm around him.
Cody turned his head and froze. Those were very familiar tattoos.
It couldn't be. Cody wasn't dreaming or dead.
He tentatively poked Quinlan's cheek.
He was there.
Cody poked again, just to be sure.
Quinlan grumbled and opened his eyes. He looked confused for a moment then he beamed. "Cody! You're awake!"
"You're alive?" Cody asked, still hardly daring to believe it.
Quinlan took his face with both hands gently and pulled him into a sweet kiss, like all those secret kisses they used to share.
"I am, Cody. It's not a dream." He pressed their foreheads together. "I'm here."
Cody started crying. "I missed you."
"I know," Quinlan whispered. "I found your memorial and I was confused... I got a recording of you talking to me and... I'm so sorry you've been grieving me this whole time... I never... I never knew for sure if you were alive or dead, and knowing about the chips, I was never sure I wanted to know..."
Cody kissed him again. "It's okay, Quin. I get it. You've been dealing with a lot. I can't... I'm just happy you're alive. It's been so long... but I still love you."
"I love you too." Quinlan smiled. "So, what brought you here?"
"Rumors of Obi-Wan."
"Same. Well I had other reasons but I saw an opportunity and took it."
Cody nodded. He leaned on Quinlan. "You also have impeccable timing."
"Yeah, apparently. I wasn't happy about fighting pirates, and then I realized that they had you and I was glad I was here. You'll be sore for a while yet."
Cody nodded.
"People were asking about you. Apparently you've already made an impression."
"I usually just help out where necessary... People here need more help than I'm used to but I still do my best. I'm not surprised they're grateful. Oh. I better let Ben know what happened."
"Ben?" Quinlan asked.
Cody grinned. "Oh, you could take me to meet him. I'm sure you'll enjoy the meeting."
Quinlan eyed him suspiciously. "If you say so."
Cody smiled. "What have you been up to?"
"A lot... I don't want to get into it yet. It's pretty top secret and I don't really share it with most people."
"Alright, share what you're comfortable with, when you're ready." Cody closed his eyes, relaxed. Feeling Quinlan's arms around him was the best feeling.
"Before I consider any of that... would you want to travel with me? Help me?"
"Of course! I don't really have a purpose," Cody admitted. "I've just been... drifting. It'd be nice to have a focus. You're sure I can travel with you?"
"I've told you I'm not good being alone, and that I need touch. Having a partner traveling with me... that'll help." Quinlan smiled at him. "And it will fool the Empire for a while, too, if we do this right."
"I'm good with that."
"Good. Later, okay? You need to rest after that beating."
Cody sighed. "Alright. But you'll tell me all about it?"
"Yep. You'll get the short version first, and then more details as we go."
"Alright." Cody rested his head on Quinlan's chest, listening to his heartbeat. He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.
Quinlan smiled and hugged him, gently running a hand up and down his back until he fell asleep.
.
A few days later, Cody took Quinlan to meet up with Ben and enjoyed watching their reactions of shock.
And then, he was off helping Quinlan. They would help as many as they could.
Cody loved having something to do, a more directed way to help, though he never lost the habits of helping the people in the areas they visited, if they had the time.
Sometimes, dreams apparently were real after all.