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"Not much longer," Obi-Wan murmured to Cody, carrying him bridal style.
Cody only made a grunt in return. It hurt and he was struggling to keep his eyes open.
Obi-Wan jumped out of the shadow and looked around to get his bearings before rushing off to the medical wing without hesitation.
He ignored all the stares and shocked exclamations as people spotted him.
He skidded into the medical wing. "I need help!" he yelled. "Human with a gunshot wound."
Bant came bustling out, hands on her hips. "And why would you bring a human here?"
"He got shot setting me free," Obi-Wan snapped, a bit frazzled after everything that day, after the months he had spent in a too small cage.
Bant was already checking over Cody. She paused, looking up briefly before resuming her care.
"...that's why you fell out of contact."
Obi-Wan nodded, sighing. "His family are hunters. He had enough of it and let me go and his father didn't take kindly to it."
"His own father..." Bant muttered angrily about people like that under her breath. "I will never understand humans."
"Neither will I," Obi-Wan agreed. "But this one is alright."
Bant nodded and finished up. "He'll live. It would be easier if I could heal him our way, but best to make sure he's coherent enough to ask if he wants to be tied to the underworld forever."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "We'll see. He made a huge choice to stand up to his father, so I don't want to push him too hard too fast."
"Right, of course. Now let's see how you're doing Obi, ah, I see how skinny you've gotten."
Obi-Wan sat down on the bed next to Cody's with a huff.
"Don't be like that. You know you need this."
"Yeah yeah," Obi-Wan grumbled.
In the end, nothing that time wouldn't cure now that he was free.
Obi-Wan ended up falling asleep waiting for the soup she ordered to arrive.
.
Cody groaned as he woke up. Last thing he remembered was Obi-Wan saying it wouldn't be much longer.
He blinked at the ceiling. It kind of smelled like a hospital but that did not look like a hospital ceiling.
"You're awake! Good, then maybe my brother will finally stop moping around."
"I'm not moping around," Obi-Wan protested.
"Sure. Sorry, my name is Bant, I'm a mermaid, and I'm also a healer. How do you feel?"
"Sore," Cody responded truthfully. "But not that bad."
"Good. I'll get you some broth to start with." She poked at the wound to get some specific answers about pain, made a few notes, and disappeared.
"You have siblings?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "Quite a few. Quin's the one who showed up right after you got shot. Kit's another merperson, we have a fae sister, a seer sister, and more."
"Uh... how exactly do genetics work for you then?" Cody asked, bewildered.
"It's impossible to be what both parents are- dad is a hellhound, mom is a mermaid. Sometimes we can get traits from them, though, like, we're all really good at swimming and have a greater lung capacity for it. Once those genetics appear in ancestry, any of them might pop up. And then, because magic can be fickle, on occasion sometimes something new pops up, like our sister the fae. There's no fae in our blood."
Cody stared at her. "Well... that's... something. I don't know what to make of that."
Obi-Wan shrugged. "It's my life. If you want to stick around, you'll have to get used to it."
"You want me to stick around? Oh. Right. You did kiss me."
Obi-Wan smiled. "We don't need to talk about it until you're ready, but we do need to discuss what you being in the underworld means, and if tying you here is a good idea for you or not before we figure out if a further relationship is a good idea."
"Uh..." Cody gaped at him.
Obi-Wan patted his hand. "It's quite alright Cody, we can save that for when you're recovered, alright?"
"Alright." Cody sighed. "Ow... I can't believe how much that hurt," he complained.
Obi-Wan patted his hand again. "First time experiences are always the worst. You don't know what to expect with the pain. Second worst is injuring a different part of the body because pain is different everywhere."
Cody stared at him.
Obi-Wan blushed and looked away. "I am a hellhound. I don't usually run into trouble with hunters, but I am something of a trouble magnet."
"Understatement of the year."
"Quin!" Obi-Wan protested, going redder.
"So you're the one that saved my brother." Quinlan leaned on Obi-Wan, grinning. "Nice to meet you. Too bad you'll be stuck in bed for a while. If you were connected to the underworld like us, Bant would have an easier time with healing."
"Uh..." Cody didn't know how to respond to that.
Obi-Wan sighed. "Cody, this is my brother, Quinlan. We were the only hellhounds in our litter, so we ended up being the closest. Quin, this is Cody. Be nice."
Quinlan cackled. "You know me. I'm never nice."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Well, you've introduced yourself."
"And I want to make sure you're okay. You've hardly left here, Obes. So if you're not leaving, I gotta come to you. Everyone's worried."
Cody watched as Obi-Wan slumped, leaning into Quinlan.
"I know. I... it could be better. But I am dealing. Doing all the things we were taught. Just going to take some time and..." Obi-Wan shrugged. "If Cody hadn't decided to free me right before you showed up, I don't know if we could have escaped so easily. You would have had to get me out of the cage and they were using me as a trap."
Quinlan winced. "Yeah, that was not one of my smartest moments. I didn't think you'd been captured by hunters... I thought if you were, you would have been dead..." he said softly. "So when I finally found you, I was just so relieved you were alive and then... well. Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Obi-Wan hugged him immediately. "I'm okay, Quin. You had perfect timing. I'm sorry to worry you. I know you don't handle it well when I'm gone. It's just... Cody doesn't have anyone here. I don't want to leave him alone."
"I know." Quinlan replied softly, pressing his forehead against Obi-Wan's, closing his eyes. "You're my brother, my twin, Obes. I'll get over it. Right now though..."
"I know. We'll do a cuddle pile as soon as I know Cody will be fine on his own, or he's out of here and moved into guest rooms."
Quinlan smiled. "Alright. We'll do it then."
Cody looked between them, a bit confused, but mostly intrigued.
Quinlan gave him a grin and started chatting his ear off.
Obi-Wan leaned on him, adding fond but exasperated comments here and there.
Cody relaxed. That was two of Obi-Wan's family that were willing to include him despite him being a hunter previously. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad after all.
.
Cody tried on the clothes. He grimaced. They were a bit big. But... better than being too small.
He was borrowing clothes for the time being. He missed his own clothes, but it wouldn't be safe to go back to collect them. It would be fine.
He would be fine.
He laid in bed once he was dressed, too exhausted and sore to do anything else.
At least he was dressed instead of in a hospital gown now.
Even in borrowed clothes he felt better than before.
It had been a long few weeks as he recovered from the gunshot wound.
He still had to be careful, but it was not nearly as bad as it could have been. It was a freaking bullet.
His own father had- nope, Cody was not thinking about it.
Instead he was going to focus on his options now.
He had finally gotten the rundown on the being tied to the underworld thing.
He decided he wasn't sure he minded. He had already severed ties with his whole family, why not make himself immortal?
And... one of the ways that he could do it was through Obi-Wan, which would allow him a fraction of Obi-Wan's powers, including some ability with shadow travel.
That would be nice.
Not yet, though. He wanted to make sure he and Obi-Wan were going to work.
That their relationship, built on Obi-Wan's captivity, and Cody's recovery, was something that would not fade away with the danger gone.
So far, he thought it would stick around.
The more he saw of Obi-Wan relaxed, the more he wanted to see it.
So Cody vowed to make sure he did his best to make sure Obi-Wan was happy.
It would help him learn more about the Underworld and all the things he had to unlearn anyway.
.
Obi-Wan was worried about Cody. Cody had been doing well with them. He had recovered.
He met most of Obi-Wan's family and seemed to get on well with them all.
But it still worried Obi-Wan.
Cody didn't talk about his family. He hadn't talked about getting shot beyond some griping about the pain.
Cody was throwing himself into making sure Obi-Wan was happy and learning everything he could.
Obi-Wan was pretty sure he hadn't dealt with the fact that he had lost his whole family by letting Obi-Wan go.
And his own father shot him.
Obi-Wan gave Cody some time, but when he heard Cody screaming one night, he decided enough was enough.
He made some hot chocolate and knocked on Cody's door.
Cody answered the door, rubbing his eyes. He had clearly been crying.
"I have hot chocolate." Obi-Wan offered him a mug.
Cody stared at him, then down at the mug as he took it. "You know sometimes you can be surprisingly human."
Obi-Wan chuckled.
Cody let him in the room.
They sat on the couch.
"I know you had a nightmare," Obi-Wan said softly.
"I suppose you heard the screaming." Cody grimaced.
"It's okay just to say 'I'm not okay'."
Cody jerked and looked up at him. "What?"
"You're clearly not okay, Cody. But you don't seem to be admitting it to yourself. Please."
Cody sighed and looked away. "I... I don't know... Obi... it's... I made the right choice. I know I did. Not for love but because it was the right thing, letting you go instead of continuing to hold you captive. But why does it still hurt so much?" his voice broke.
Obi-Wan set his mug down and wrapped his arm around Cody. "Because you did the right thing and it cost you everything you know because your family did not want to stand by your decision. And your own father shot you. I can't imagine how that felt."
Cody put his mug down and let himself fall apart in Obi-Wan's arms.
"I did everything he wanted me to," Cody cried. "I was his perfect son I just... I couldn't do that anymore."
"I know, Cody, I know."
"You're too understanding."
"I've seen the worst of humanity. Your father is one of the bad ones. You just got a bad hand, and when it came to taking a stand, you made the right choice, even though you lost everything. That is far more impressive than those who do the right thing because everything always aligns for them."
"Oh." Cody sniffles. "I'm just not sure what's next..."
"Whatever you want, Sunshine." Obi-Wan lifted his chin for a quick, gentle kiss. "You can explore art if you want, make your way wherever you want in the human world, you can stay here and keep learning, we could date, you can do whatever you want. You're free of your controlling father, Cody."
Cody gave him a tremulous smile. "Can I pick all of the above? I... I've always wanted to try art more, but I wasn't allowed and... I want something peaceful after all that hunting."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Whatever you want." He paused, looking Cody up and down. "...those are my clothes. We still need to take you shopping, don't we?"
Cody laughed. "You do, but I don't mind. Very comfortable. You like your clothes big, don't you?"
"I've never been fond of feeling confined, so loose clothing has been best."
Cody nodded. "I can really stay? I can choose all of this?"
"If that's what you really want, yes. Just remember you have options right now, but if you do tie yourself to the underworld, that does change things. You can't stay away from the underworld for too long once you belong here."
"I know. I'm starting to think it might be worth it. I was raised to hunt beings people do not believe exist. I was shot by my own father, and... I just don't think I could ever have a normal life. I might as well embrace it."
Obi-Wan smiled. "Alright. Just remember that I am here whenever you're not feeling okay, alright?"
"I'll be here for you too, if you don't want to confide in your family."
Obi-Wan beamed and kissed him.