Chapter Text
Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi desperately grappled with the controls of his X-Wing as he spiraled out of control. He’d been struck by an anti-aircraft round, and now a quarter of his wings were gone, making the distinctive craft look more like its Y-Wing counterpart. An unknown part of him, the same strange part of him that always whispered what to do in times of crisis, directed his hands, turning the death spiral into a skid and giving him just enough time to eject before the craft plowed into a pair of AT-ATs.
For as long as he’d been alive, there’d been an Empire. For most of his childhood, he hadn’t even known there was ever anything else. Like all the other child laborers, he worked all day, and was simply happy when he had enough food to sate the neverending gnawing of his belly.
Until the man came.
His name was Qui-Gon, and he called himself a Jedi. Ben had always secretly laughed at that one. There were no Jedi, and if there were they would never be strong enough to beat the Emperor or his pet Darth Vader. They would need at least a thousand Jedi to kill those two. And Qui-Gon had been the only one. Despite that, Ben loved the man like the father he never had and had been an inconsolable mess when that same Darth Vader found and brutally murdered him. Vader had stared down the twenty-four year old Ben, but had made no move to harm him. He was no Jedi after all.
Ben landed with a bone bruising thud and struggled out of his gear. He could hear Stormtroopers in the woods surrounding him. He cursed his bright orange flight suit and frantically cast his eyes about, looking for a place to hide. Too late. A shot sizzled past him, his lightning quick reflexes the only thing saving him. He bolted, giving himself up completely to the strange force that always saved him. He could hear the thunder of booted feet chasing him.
Suddenly he spotted a cave through the thick foliage. He made for it, scrambling and hyperventilating. He chanced a look behind him and saw three Stormtroopers behind him, one dangerously so. The cave entrance loomed ahead. He dove inside and willed with everything he had that the Stormtroopers wouldn’t get in. The ceiling began to rumble, cracks forming in it. He heard a deep voice call out in surprise, and then everything went black.
When he came to, Ben noticed two things right away. First, the cave entrance was completely blocked by rocks, and second there was a Stormtrooper bleeding out next to him.
“Oh kriffing hell,” Obi-Wan said, allowing himself to curse just this one time. He wondered what the rest of Rogue squadron would say if they could hear him. They’d probably die of shock to hear their normally proper companion speak such. The situation definitely warranted it, Ben thought. There was no way he could live with himself if he let the man die, he knew. It didn’t matter that they were on two different sides of a war. Something inside of him absolutely recoiled at the thought. So he sat up gingerly and pulled out his med kit, laying out all his supplies.
He bit his lips, hesitating, before removing the man’s helmet. The man was young; he couldn’t have been much older than Ben’s own twenty-five standard years. His face was remarkably unscathed save for a nasty scar around his left eye. He was handsome, Ben was irritated to note. Murderers shouldn’t be handsome, he thought even as he began to strip the man of his armor. Aside from a low grunt of pain as Ben removed his chest plate, the man made no sound and no indication that he was regaining consciousness.
There was a deep slash along the Stormtrooper’s side that was causing the bleeding. After inspecting it, Ben concluded that, while no fatal itself, it still needed tending to in case of infection, so he disinfected it, applied bacta, and bandaged it. He also gave the man a shot of antibiotics just to be safe. All this done, he hugged his knees to his chest and fell into a light doze.
When he woke this time, there was a blaster in his face. Ben groaned irritably and slapped it away. The Stormtrooper blinked.
“You’re a Rebel. Shouldn’t you be afraid?” The soldier asked. Ben was annoyed to discover the man’s voice was attractive as well. He shrugged and gestured sarcastically at the caved in entrance.
“If you kill me, how will you get out? Your transmitter is blocked or else your friends would have contacted you by now. They probably think you’re dead.” Ben said, not missing the way the man’s eyes darkened with unhappiness and worry at his last statement. He lowered the blaster and gently fingered his bandaged wound.
“Why did you do this? I would have not done the same for you,” he said quietly. Once again Ben shrugged. He shot the man a sad smirk.
“Don’t worry, none of my friends would have done the same for you either. They always tell me I’m too soft for this war.” They were quiet for a time. Then:
“What’s your name?” Ben asked. The Stormtrooper jumped.
“What?” He said, embarrassed and annoyed. Ben hid his smile and repeated his question. The man stared at him like he had two heads.
“My name is CC-2224. What’s yours?” Ben’s eyebrows shot up. What kind of name was that? His face must have shown his incredulity because CC-2224’s face darkened in defensiveness. Ben held his hands up in apology.
“It’s a nice name! I just wasn’t expecting it. Do you have a nickname or anything?” He asked hopefully.
CC-2224 stared at the Rebel through the dim light coming through the cracks in the caved in entrance. He was the strangest man he’d ever known. And yet, there was a certain ease while they were together that he’d only ever felt with CT-7567.
“Cody,” he said so quietly that Ben almost didn’t hear him. “My brothers call me Cody.”
Ben smiled.