Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars
The door slammed shut as Cody walked over to his chair in the living room, completely exhausted. Trying to hide it, he sat up as best he could. The day felt long, trying to keep the Empire off their tail. And the memories. The ones that didn't cease to haunt him every time he blinked. It was wearing him out. Deep in thought, he didn't even notice Barriss pull up a chair and sit next to him.
"Cody," she said, gently holding his hand in her lap, "is something wrong?"
He quickly snapped out of his little trance and cleared his throat. "Nah, I'm good. Just tired is all." He took a quick peek at the clock and realized it was only 7pm. He moaned, slowly facing his wife who was still holding his hand and giving him an unsatisfied look.
"Don't lie. I can tell something's bothering you." She scooted closer to show that she was paying full attention.
Cody rubbed the bridge of his nose with his other hand and gave a deep sigh. Seems I can't get anything past her, can I? he thought, smiling to himself.
"How did you know?" he whispered.
"It wasn't that hard. The first hint was when you got out of bed this morning. Usually you open the windows and find some sweet way to wake me up. Whispering in my ear or stroking my hair." Cody blushed at the comments and Barriss couldn't help but follow suit. "But today, you just went straight to your holopad. Then when Mila wanted a hug, you gave her that little half hug. I have never seen you deny Mila a proper hug before." Both of them chuckled at the memory. "But what really gave it away was when you were about to go do your work. You have never, since the day we got married, left me without a kiss."
Cody was now as red as a beacon as he looked at the ground, a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry, honey. I've just been distracted lately."
He got up and moved to the couch. Barriss followed. Now scooting to the end of the couch, Cody was about to flick on the Empire radio channel, but his wife quickly took hold of his hand.
"Oh no you don't," she said, cuddling close to him, "You are going to tell me what's wrong." She sat next to him and covered his hands. "Don't ignore the problem."
Cody sighed again, "Alright. Remember back, right after order 66..."
Utapau's sun blazed upon the clone troopers as they walked around the city, blasting any remaining droids in the area. Cody, still fully armored, sat himself down at the edge of one of the hangars, looking down into the pit that the city was built within. It's as if the buildings just held on for life, because if they didn't, they would fall in.
What have I done? I killed one of the strongest Jedi and best men I've ever known without a second thought. What is this madness? Since when were the Jedi traitors?
He just sat there, reviewing his situation. The Commander of the 212th was reduced to a murderer. As he wallowed in self-hatred, a clone trooper approached him from behind.
"Sir," the clone said, saluting him.
"Yes, trooper?" Cody said, nonchalantly.
"We have found another Jedi, sir,"
"What?!" Cody yelled, jumping up to his feet. "Another Jedi?"
"Yes sir," the trooper said, nodding, "Her name is Barriss Offee. The Emperor has order her execution by your hand, sir."
Cody was caught bit off guard by that. "Why does he want me to execute her?"
"He said it was a loyalty test, sir. Kenobi's body hasn't been found, so he wants to make sure you are still loyal enough to kill a Jedi."
"Alright . . . I'll be right there," Cody sighed, waving the trooper away.
Again?! He wants me to kill another one already? Well. . .orders are orders. Let's get this over with.
He started marching down toward the prisons. The place was under tight security, clone troopers by every entrance, and patrols walking around the building. He passed cell after cell until he finally found the one with Barriss kneeling inside. She was in her Jedi robes, but her hood was taken down, exposing her beautiful purple hair. Two clones stood beside her, blasters set to kill. As Cody approached her, she looked up, her piercing blue eyes full of sadness and despair.
"So, you're the infamous Commander Cody," Barriss coughed.
Now Cody felt real bad. He already knew he got credit for his war skills, but he guessed the fame was more do to with the "killing" of Obi-Wan. He took off his helmet and looked down at her. She was tired, but still strong.
"Here you are, sir," the clone trooper to his left said, handing him a pistol.
Cody took a hold of it, and aimed it down at Barriss' forehead. His hand was trembling, his mind twisting in thirty different directions. Those eyes. Those beautiful eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said aloud, quickly turning around and shooting both of the guards in the shin. Before they could make a sound, he made two swift kicks and knocked both of the troopers out cold. Then he peered behind him to see Barriss' astounded face.
"I had to," Cody whispered to himself, "I couldn't do it again."
He walked over to Barriss and undid her bindings. She hopped up and forced him against a wall, her forearm up against his throat.
"What the heck are you doing?!" Cody yelled, struggling to get free.
"Taking you and your clone traitors down," she yelled back, now grabbing Cody's arm and flipping him over onto his back.
Cody had had enough of this. He swept her feet out from under her and had her pinned in a matter of seconds.
"Listen," Cody said, breathing heavily, "I'm trying to get you out of here."
"Oh really?" she said between breaths, "How can I trust you?"
Cody slowly began to ease off her until they were both standing up and facing one another. "Because if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it when I had the pistol aimed at your head," he said, faltering a bit.
She raised an eyebrow and scanned him up and down. He felt like blushing. Especially when her eyes stopped at his face. Those precise eyes fixed with his. He could feel his heart was wrenching, but he did his best to keep a serious face. Flinching would only make him look dishonest.
"Alright," she said, her expression still doubtful, "Do you have a plan on getting us out of here?"
Cody smirked in return. "I always have a plan. Follow me."
He put his helmet back on and led her through the long, gray hallways of the complex, only stopping once or twice to make sure there were no guards around the corners. He had his blaster in his hands, set to stun. He might not have liked how his brothers had changed, but he knew they were just following orders. As he rounded the corner to the exit, he noticed two clones stationed beside the door. He quickly turned around and motioned for Barriss to stay where she was. Cody then stood up very formally and strode down the hall towards the troopers.
"Hey, boss," the trooper right of the door said, "Need something?"
"No. I just came to relieve you men from your post. Other guys are on their way to take your places," Cody said, as professionally as possible.
The other trooper tipped his head to the side in confusion. "But sir, we got direct orders to stay here."
Cody gradually turned to the other trooper. "On whose authority?"
"Sergeant Rae, sir. Oh..." he responded, now remembering the Chain of Command.
"Come on genius, let's go get some grub," the other clone said, trying to save his partner some embarrassment, "Thank you, sir."
"No problem, boys." Cody said with a nod.
The clones simply walked off side-by-side, completely oblivious to Barriss as they passed her up. She then quickly crept up behind Cody.
"Nice job. Now before we go any further, it would be nice to know what your plan is," she said, grabbing his arm to prevent him from going out the door.
He peered down at her small green hand. She was so gentle, that he barely knew it was there. She noticed him looking down at her hand and quickly retracted it, looking at the ground in embarrassment.
Gosh that's cute. . . He shook his head in response, What are you doing? A few minutes ago she was trying to kill you after saving her. Pull it together.
He snapped up and tried to remember what she asked. "Uh. . . the plan . . . right. There's a hangar not too far from here. There should be a ship docked there."
Barriss, now paying attention again, shook her head. "What about the other troopers?"
"They're no problem; there's an alley around the corner over here that leads to the other side of the hangar," he said, motioning to the wall. "There's just one small issue."
"What's that?" she replied, a little worriedly.
"The alley isn't well lit, and with it being the evening, it'll be hard to see in there. My helmet has night-vision, but what about you?"
"The force will guide me," she answered, confidently.
"Alright, let's go."
Cody opened the door, quickly turning the corner and following the building's wall. As the light faded out, he flicked on his night-vision. The alley was dirty as all heck. Garbage bags were scattered all over the place and the smell was horrendous. Cody had half a mind to turn around and take his chances with the other troopers, but it was probably safer this way, so he continued on. He checked behind him to see Barriss' shocked expression to the smell. Her eyes got really big, then cringed shut as she plugged her nose.
Cute. . .Why was that cute? Focus, soldier!
Cody turned back to the alley and slowly strode past one building at a time. He was about halfway through when he heard a loud bang behind him. Cody dove behind a trashcan and popped up with his blaster raised, only to see Barriss holding her knee next to some spilled trash. Cody sighed as he got up from behind his cover and walked over to the still stumbling Barriss.
"Need a little help there?" he asked, grinning under his helmet.
"No! I'm fine," she said, continuing to walk forward until she stumbled over the trash can's lid. She sighed in defeat and held out her arm for Cody to guide her.
He walked over, grabbed her arm and placed it in his shoulder so she could follow. The problem with that, however, was they would take five steps and she would lose him. Getting a little irritated with the waste of time, he grabbed her hand and began to guide her through the rest of the alley. Her hand was trembling slightly as they walked. Curious about what was wrong, he turned to see Barriss covering up her face with her other hand.
Cody laughed a little looked forward again. "Are you blushing?"
"NO!" she whispered as loud as she could.
Cody just smiled and led them the rest of the way through. They were now on the opposite side of the hangar. It was big compared to most of the hangars on this planet. Tons of Republic fighters filled its docks, along with several Gunships. However, his focus wasn't on the fighters; they weren't meant for long distance flight. His eyes floated over to a merchant ship that was docked in the hangar for trade. It was a large green ship with two large, swiveling jets that allowed the craft to lift itself up, but then turn to the rear of the ship for space travel, very similar to the slave ships. The Commander straightened into his formal fashion again and pulled Barriss in front of him.
"Hey, what are you doing?" she whispered.
"I can't get us past the guards, so I'll make it look like a prisoner relocation," he said, calming her down. "Just let me do the talking."
Cody loosely cuffed her with some binders to make her look like his prisoner. Her hands felt soft and gentle, yet firm. They were almost like silk. He got embarrassed, noticing that she was staring at him and noticed that he had been holding on to her hands for longer than expected.
"Sorry," he said, quickly removing his hands from the binders.
"It's fine," she said quickly, faltering.
Cody then began to lead her to the ship. It was going well for the most part. Most of the clones just minded their own business. Some were cleaning and arming ships, while others talked amongst themselves. Cody and Barriss we're within twenty feet of the ship until a patrol of clones walked by. The lead sergeant stopped in front of Cody.
"Cody? What are you doing escorting prisoners around, sir?" the sergeant asked, curiously.
"Everyone else has a job to do and this prisoner is very dangerous," he said, coolly.
The sergeant looked at Barriss confused. "She's the Jedi, sir. Her execution has been ordered."
Cody started to sweat under their new knowledge. "Ah. . . there's been a change in plans."
The sergeant stepped closer, followed by his patrol of about five men. "Sir, her execution has been ordered and it was supposed to be carried out by you."
All the other clones started grasping their blasters a little tighter. Cody found himself completely out of ideas.
"You know too much for your own good sergeant," Cody said, menacingly. "Bariss, now!"
Cody drew his blaster and rotated himself behind Bariss, who force pushed all the troopers across the hangar. He then began to lay down covering fire as they made their way to the ship. Bariss, being unarmed, blasted troopers away with force pushes and throws. By the time they neared the ship, Cody had stunned a few of his brothers. When they reached the ship, Cody went down into a crouch so he could steady his aim while Barriss lifted both hands and concentrated. She closed her eyes and with one forceful thrust down, the ramp slammed open.
"GO!" Cody yelled, shooting off a couple more blasts.
Barriss raced inside and began to fiddle around with the ignition. After suppressing the enemy, Cody followed her in and lifted the shields. The new protection allowed them to repel the small arms fire, but Cody knew rocket launchers would be on their way. They needed to act quickly. Cody began to sequence the ship's few guns, while Barriss finally got the engines started. Just in time too, for Cody could see the launchers on their way.
"Any day now, Barriss!" Cody yelled as he fixed the gun controls.
"Got it!" she yelled.
The ship began to rise and aim toward the sky. A few missiles flew by, but none of them made contact. The ship was easily maneuvered out of range and darted into orbit. With them now safe, Barriss slowed the ship down and fell back in the pilot's chair. Cody took a seat in the co-pilot chair and began to rub the bridge of his nose. After a few minutes had passed, Barriss finally spoke up.
"So. . . what's the plan from here on out?" she asked, still taking deep breaths.
"We go to Coruscant," Cody said plainly, now turning his seat to face her.
"Why there?" she asked, confused. "Weren't all the Jedi killed there too?"
"Yes, but I know someone who can help us out," he said, standing up and walking toward a control panel in the back of the cockpit.
"Who is it?"
Cody smirked at her, "You'll see."
Barriss grunted a little, but went along with the plan. "Fine," she said, dragging it out to show her exhaustion.
Cody then walked over to her seat, placing his hands on the back of the chair, "Here, I'll take the first shift. You go get some rest."
She stared at him with a bit of shock, then frustration. "Why? Are you going to kill me in my sleep?"
The clone rolled his eyes and moved her out of the seat. "No. Again, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it back on Utapau. Besides, I can't stand the idea of killing another Jedi."
"Another!?" she exclaimed, jumping away from him a bit.
"Yeah. Another. I killed one other. General Kenobi." The commander looked down and flipped on the hyperspeed. "I was just following orders. Now I realize how wrong they were."
He just sat there, hunched over, staring at the ground. He felt awful having to think about it again. It ate at him from the inside and it felt like it would ever go away. He heard footsteps slowly creep up behind him. Cody expected a smack on the head, or her trying to break his neck. Instead, she slowly removed his helmet and gave him a small peck on the cheek. Shocked, he turned cherry red and spun around to look at her.
"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his cheek.
"For saving me. I know what you've done was difficult and I would be dead if you hadn't helped." she said, blushing a little.
"Well," he said leaning back in his chair, "we wouldn't have even made it off the planet without you so. . ." He got up and placed his hand on her shoulder, "Thank you."
She was now a dark green color as she retreated to the back of the ship. He smiled and sat back down in the pilot's seat to make sure everything was going steady. His thoughts then wandered,
Never thought I would be here. Running from my own men to save a Jedi I had been ordered to kill. There's just something about her. . . The way she moves, and the calmness of her voice. . . So soothing, and stern. Jeez that's complicating.
With the ship on autopilot, Cody's mind continued to wander. He only snapped out of it when the ship abruptly slowed down. They had arrived at Coruscant. As he eased the ship through the atmosphere, he flew as low as he could to avoid detection. No doubt every clone would be looking for them. He landed on a busy platform and shut the engines off. He then got up and went to the back.
"Hey Barr-" he froze as he saw her stretch and get up from the cot she was resting on, her dark purple hair now a little ruffled, her eyes a little drowsy. She yawned and stood up.
"Yeah Cody, what is. . . huh," she gasped, looking down to see that she wasn't wearing much as far as clothing goes. She was maybe a step above undergarments with a tight, dark work out shirt and very small shorts.
Cody quickly looked the other way and mumbled a bunch of nonsense and curses as he walked away. He sat back down in the Pilot's seat and quietly smacked his head against his fist.
Nice going genius. You're dead.
He heard her light footsteps behind him. They stopped right behind his chair, followed by a long pause. It lingered on for a while until Cody heard her clear her throat.
"Uh. . . what did. . .you want to say, Cody?" she asked, stumbling over her words.
Cody sat up straight, but continued to stare forward to avoid eye contact with Barriss. "We. . . should probably find a place to lay low." he said, still a bit nervous and embarrassed.
"Okay," she said, sitting next to him.
He still avoided looking at her, but she gently moved his head to face her. Her hands still felt very gentle. Yet, they moved with a sort of swiftness. It was odd.
With him now facing her, his eyes scanned her once more. She was back in her robes and she appeared calm. He fell into her blue eyes again. Those pools of emotion and peace. A place that felt oddly soothing.
She then slowly leaned forward and brought Cody into a gentle kiss. His eyes shot open and he just sat there in shock until she pulled away.
"Uhh. . . ahem," Cody coughed, "what was that for?"
Barriss just sat there blushing, "I don't know. It just felt right. With the force and everything I just follow my instincts and they told me to do that." She then looked down, like she was trying to hide herself. "Sorry."
She was about to walk away until Cody grabbed her arm. Pulling her closer, he spoke in a low, quiet voice, "It's fine. I actually kind of enjoyed that."
He didn't even have to look up to know that she was smiling. Then a flash of blue out in the hangar caught his eye. He turned and stared with a big grin on his face.
"Who is that?" Barriss asked, looking at the same man.
"That's Rex."
Cody sat on his couch, still looking down at his wife's hand. "I don't think I will ever get over that death though. Kenobi was a great man."
His wife kissed his cheek, "You know, without those events, you wouldn't have met me."
"That's true," he said, giving her a grin.
She smiled back and pulled him into an embracing hug. "I think I just found my Cody again."
"Yeah, well I don't know if that's good or bad," he replied, pulling back from the hug.
"Well," she whispered, "I know it's a good thing. Now I'm going to go to bed." She rose from the couch and gracefully strode to the stairs. She then looked back at him over her shoulder. "I do hope you join me."
Cody's eyebrows rose. He stood up and followed her, "I'm coming."
They both climbed up the stairs and walked into their bedroom for a good-night's rest.
Sort of.
Please review. I'm still relatively new to this and would enjoy any feedback you can give me! I will get my next when I can. Thanks :)