Chapter 9 - Begin Again

When Jango woke, Obi-Wan wasn't beside him, Obi-Wan wasn't even in the room.

He panicked, he didn't even put his armour on, just slipped on his boots and grabbed his blaster before running out.

He nearly tripped over himself as he found Obi-Wan sitting in the table booth with a cup of tea and a tablet.

Jango's breath escaped him in a large gust.

Obi-Wan looked at him with a raised brow, slightly distant, slightly amused.

He was too damn young to be laughing at him.

"I thought you had left," Jango explained, again, wrong footed. Why did he feel like the child who needed to explain why he was running out without his armour?

"I have nowhere to go," Obi-Wan said in answer.

Not that he wanted to stay, but he had no one else to turn to. Although Jango was pretty sure that Obi'ika was resourceful enough to figure it out if he was ever on his own.

The thought alone made his heart ache, He was too young, too young.

Jango shook his head, "Your place is here."

Obi-Wan said nothing.

Jango gritted his teeth and tried not to growl, "This is your home."

Obi'ika nodded, "Thank you."

"No, that's not what I meant-" he let out another harsh breath. "Obi'ika, you are my son."

Obi-Wan just watched him.

Jango figured he might as well get the hard part out of the way, "And we do need to discuss yesterday."

"Why? It's my word versus his."

This was not going well.

"Why did you flip him over your shoulder? You panicked when he touched you and panicked again after hearing his name. Why?"

Obi-Wan looked at him, weighing him then said, "He squeezed down on my collarbone, closer to my neck. If he hadn't meant me harm he wouldn't have snuck up on me or Micah who -he must know- is deaf and he would have touched either the shoulder plate or closer to it. He squeezed down on my bruises."

Jango hung his head, "And his name?"

"You won't believe me."

"You are aliit, Obi-Wan."

"So is he."

Jango had to marshal his breathing before he could speak, "I promise you, Obi,-Wan, I will hear you."

"Why?" Obi-Wan asked him, "You might have adopted me, but you don't know me. I'm a stranger to you."

"Obi'ika," Jango sighed, dropping to a knee to be nearer to eye level. "I know that you are brave, I know that you are kind-"

"How do you know that?" Obi-Wan interrupted, looking suspicious, no, that wasn't right.

He looked as if he was waiting to be hurt, as if soft words would make disappointment harder to take later on.

Jango signed, 'Because I see you.' He continued to use sign as he spoke because it was good to do something with his hands. "I see you with others. I know that you care for them. I know that you are willing to risk your life for strangers, that you have a warrior's heart. That isn't something that can be taught, only fostered. I know that you are my son, and I will do anything to keep you safe, to help you become the man that I know you will become."

Obi-Wan set down his tablet on the table and leaned forward to hug Jango, wrapping his small arms around Jango's neck. Jango tried not to hug back too tightly as relief swamped him.

Obi-Wan though didn't seem to mind as he relaxed in Jango's arms.

Jango really didn't want to ruin the moment, however, it would only delay the topic.

He pulled back to meet Obi-Wan's gaze, "We still need to speak about the bantha in the room."

Obi-Wan dropped his arms and his gaze, "I don't want to."

Jango caught his hands, "Alright, I'll stop pushing, but Jaster will wish to speak of it with you." Let his buir be the evil one, Montross was his stupid friend after all.

Obi-Wan nodded in acquiesce, however, Jango had little doubts this debate being far from over, but it was over.

Jango touched the side of Obi'ika's face, "I'm on your side, ad'ika."

Obi-Wan looked far from convinced but nodded nevertheless.

Jango offered him a small smile, "Let me get dressed and then we can head over to Agni's ship for breakfast. Micah should be there. Are you up for some training today?"

That got a verbal response at least. Obi-Wan even almost smiled, "Yes, my shoulders feel better."

Jango wondered if Montross had healed yet.

He stood, turning away from Obi-Wan so the boy wouldn't see his thoughts.

Regardless of what Obi'ika thought Montross was guilty of, Jango was probably still going to have to kill him after yesterday.

Montross was too proud and Obi'ika too truthful.

Obi-Wan might avoid conflict, but Jango didn't think he would pretend that Monstross wasn't as dangerous as he was.

Jango sighed, securing the last of his armour in place; today was going to be a day.

He was relieved again when he came back, Obi'ika had remained. His mug was on the drying rack, again, the boy was too… unchild-like.

He motioned for Obi'ika to join him.

They didn't make it far from the Salvation before they were set upon by a horde of tiny ade.

Okay, not a horde, there were only three of them, but by the sound they made, they might as well have been.

They called Jango's name but swarmed Obi'ika.

Jango tensed, worried that Obi-Wan would be overwhelmed.

But Obi'ika just opened his arms and smiled at the toddlers.

"Obi'ika, this is Kalli Reeves, Koska Reeves, and Asara Reeves," Jango introduced. "Ages three, two, and one respectively. Demons, this is my ad, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Up," Kalli demanded, pushing Asara at Obi-Wan.

Asar-ika had only recently learned how to walk, but she didn't so much walk as run. Leading to the interesting, headache inducing, problem of getting further and tiring quicker.

Obi-Wan scooped the tiny child up in his arms, along with Koska who didn't normally like being held or touched by anyone save for her immediate family.

But Koska curled herself tight to Obi'ika as if they were old friends finally united. Koska's dark braids fell over Obi'ikas shoulder.

Jango bent to pick up the oldest, Kalli, and led the way to Chakraborty's ship, which was by far the biggest in their small fleet with the most shields as he had the most and the youngest ade.

It's where most of the clan tended to congregate.

Micah's eyes widened when he saw Obi'ika holding two of his little sisters.

Obi'ika sat down on the bench seat at the large table, Koska slid off his lap but stayed pressed to his side while Asara curled against his chest.

The ade began speaking in rapid sign and Jango turned away to help Maas and Chakraborty with the breakfast plates.

"What the hell was that with Montross?" Maas said in greeting, his face grim.

Jango lowered his voice, "Obi'ika won't say. I told him he'll have to speak with Jaster about it if he won't speak with me."

Maas frowned harder, "He was truly afraid."

Chakraborty shook his head, "He should be, I've never seen anyone get the best of Montross outside of a prolonged spare."

Jango winced, "Can we not speak of it here?"

But Maas was already walking to the table and spoke directly after setting plates down so he could sign as spoke both to Obi-Wan and the other foundlings. "You can't attack someone like you did yesterday, Obi'ika. You either kill him or leave him the kark alone."

"If I had tried to break his neck, I think he might have bitten my fingers off," Obi-Wan said as if he already thought this through. He didn't sign as he gathered plates for himself and for the two Reeves girls still clinging to him.

Jango's response to his ad's statement was a long blink.

'What?' Micah signed in confusion.

Obi-Wan held his fingers toward his mouth and made a chomping motion with his teeth.

Micah's expression of disgusted horror might have been funny if Jango couldn't feel his grey hairs beginning to spontaneously grow years before their time.

The girls thought Obi-Wan's statement was something hilarious and the conversation fell into the three little terrors trying to get either Micah or Chakraborty to give them the sign for cannibalism.

Which was when Sinna, lean and deadly, strode to the table. Once she caught onto the current topic, she flipped her raven braid over her shoulder and put an abrupt end to the conversation by glaring at the girls with furious blue eyes.

Sinna then introduced herself to Obi-Wan who greeted her politely in sign. Sinna smiled at Jango's ad, completely unaware that Obi-Wan was responsible for the discussion about cannibalism.

At least, Jango mused, his life wasn't going to be boring.

-):0:(-

After breakfast, Sinna took the girls and Jango, Maas, and Chakraborty took Obi-Wan and Micah to the training room.

They already knew, thanks to Obi'ika's demonstration yesterday that the boy was killed in hand to hand, but they didn't get past stretching before learning something new about his ad.

Micah signed as Obi-Wan bent to touch his toes, 'How flexible are you?'

Obi-Wan smiled then dropped into a split.

Jango winced because legs weren't supposed to do that.

"Jango," Maas called and informed him, "Your ad'ika is broken."

Micah shook his head and signed, 'Show off.'

Obi-Wan grinned, a mischievous glint in his grey eyes. He placed his hands on the floor behind him and from the floor, proceeded to bend backwards in a backbend before raising his legs straight up in a karking handstand.

Even Kalli couldn't do that and her favourite mode of transportation was cartwheels.

Micah signed, 'I hate you.'

Obi'ika grinned as he met his friend's gaze and while still upside down, balanced on one hand to sign with one hand and maintaining the single-handed handstand, signed back, 'I love you too.'

Micah tackled Obi'ika the boys fell into grapple which ended with Micah having to tap out when Obi-Wan got him in a headlock with his legs.

Chakraborty shook his head and asked Jango, "None of you are related yet your line continues to be the most insane."

"Asinine. The word you are looking for is asinine," Maas corrected. "Remember the day Jango first learned how to fly a jetpack?"

Jango smiled at his vode and told them fondly, "Tell Obi'ika that story and I will gut you."

Maas and Chakraborty laughed at him.

Jango smiled too as he plotted his revenge against his two vode who were definitely going to tell Obi'ika that story the first chance they got. All the while kept an eye on his ever surprising ad'ika who never failed to astound.

-):0:(-

Janga was annoyed and didn't hide it as he sat across from Montross while glaring at Jaster. Jaster had brought the four of them together after dinner onto Jaster's ship.

A ship that Jango still very much considered home.

He didn't at all like having Obi'ika so close to Montross as they took their seats.

"I think it is best we discuss this misunderstanding," Jaster said.

Jango held himself at the ready beside Montross as he glared at Jaster, this was a stupid idea.

"There is no misunderstanding," Obi'ika said calmly, "He's a serial killer."

They all fell silent, staring at the ad'ika.

'Serial Killer' wasn't a term often used or used lightly.

In a galaxy of trillians, serial killers had three fates, if they were planet bound, to whatever community, eventually they were found and killed. If they had access to starships and they were stupid or slipped up, they were also killed.

But if they were smart and their hunting grounds were only limited by the fuel it took to skip between stars, they hunted until the end of their lives.

Montross shook his head and huffed, "Stewjon, you say?"

"That is a bold claim," Jaster said with forced calm.

"Bold?" Montross laughed, "It's absurd."

"Why did you panic?" Jaster asked, ignoring the man whose past Jango was running over in his head.

Serial killers were supposed to be smart, obsessive, and capable of great violence.

Montross was indeed obsessive, his ship was spotless and he would let no one on it. Jango would like to say he wasn't smart, but the brutish behaviour, to a certain extent, was an act. Montross was Jaster's second for a reason, and that reason wasn't because he was sloppy or ignorant of details.

"Buir," Jango gritted out, "I've told you about this already."

"I want to hear from him, what about Montross's name set you off, Obi-Wan."

Obi'ika's gaze was steely when he said, "I thought he was just a story, and I was already spooked."

"So why are you still so sure?" Jaster asked as if he were speaking to an equal, not his grandson, not his bu'ad.

Obi-Wan held out Jango's datapad to Jaster. Obi-Wan had been carrying it around with him all day.

"There's a difference between people who like to kill and serial killers," Obi-Wan said, "He's good at both. But serial killers have patterns."

Jango watched Jaster's face as he flipped through whatever files were there.

It wasn't often he saw the ripples of horror and open disgust on his buir's face.

"I looked for the pattern from the story I was told, and I compared it to his reported bounties -Where I found more patterns," Obi-Wan said seriously.

Montross snorted, "You think you're so kind of an investigator? I kill people for a living, kid."

"You kill children." Obi-Wan said, meeting the large man's gaze dead on, "You slaughter your victims, limb from limb. But you're smart enough not to kill your bounties like that. Most of those kills are attributed to Wookies. Wookies are an easy target because their language is hard to learn and they are actively hunted for illegal fights. But Wookies don't hurt kids, they aren't animals, unlike you."

Montross was glaring at Obi-Wan in such a way that had Jango subtly reached for his weapon.

Jango winced as Obi-Wan continued to bait the supposed serial killer. Which he did believe was true, the man's final damnation was in Jaster's continued silence.

"Except," Obi'ika said primly, "I think that would be an insult to animals. Even banthas have more grace than you."

Montross bared his teeth at Obi-Wan and spoke to Jaster with jaw tight, "Jas, reprimand your ade before I do it for you."

Jango glanced at his buir, who looked up to meet Montross's gaze, slowly.

The look on Jaster's face was lined with sorrow and resignation.

Montross and Jango responded in the same moment.

Montross brought both arms up, one hand grabbing the barrel of Jango's blaster, the shot going into the ceiling and the other Montross brought up his blaster against Obi-Wan.

Jaster, delayed by emotion, likely guilt, didn't respond quickly enough.

Luckily, Obi'ika did, jumping to his feet and grabbing his own forearm to help direct the ricochet of Montross's shot.

Jango froze, his knife plunged deep into Montross's throat, a second after Montross's own shot was deflected back into the giant's face, burning a whole through his brains.

Jango gaped at Obi'ika who was staring down at his beskar in awe.

Obi'ika turned a smile up to Jango, "This is so cool, I didn't realize how reflective it was, and as long as you brace the impact is far less than what I had imagined."

"Cool?" Jaster repeated a bit breathlessly, lowering his own unshot blaster, "You just killed a man."

Obi'ika shrugged, "I killed eleven people the other day, what I haven't done is use beskar to direct a blaster bolt. Besides," he glanced at the dead man who had slumped to the side, "he had it coming."

Jango had a moment of hysterical laughter rise to his lips, his ad'ika had just killed Mandalorian Montross with one shot fired with a mere bracer.

By the time Obi'ika was past puberty, he might very well be the most deadly being in the galaxy.

Jaster sighed, "Go, the both of you. I'll take care of the body and the beskar."

Jango stood, taking Obi'ika's hand before the boy could say anything else.

As they walked back to their own ship, Obi'ika asked, "Are you mad?"

"That you didn't sleep last night and spent the hours you should have been resting researching homicides, yes, I am, actually. It will be an early night for you, no arguments."

Jango was only sort of kidding, but he was mostly serious. Clearly, Obi-Wan, despite his intelligence, would need guidance in taking care of his own health.

Obi'ika rolled his eyes but tugged on Jango's hand as he came to a stop in the hangar, "How upset are you?"

Jango halted and let out a long breath before turning to face Obi'ika's terribly earnest expression. "I'm extremely upset that our clan has been harboring a serial killer, more so because whatever evidence you research revealed and was so clear to my buir wasn't probably not the full extent of Montross's crimes. I am yet more enraged because his victims included foundlings. I am upset that you came so close to harm today with both Jaster and I there, however, I am grateful, that you held true and ended that traitor."

Obi-Wan threw his arms around Jango's waist, they both almost dropped their helmets.

But they managed, and Jango ruffled Obi'ika's hair, "I told you, ner ad'ika, you are aliit and I'm always going to be on your side."

Obi-Wan held onto him a little tighter and Jango smiled, hopeful that they could continue to build trust in one another.

Quinlan Vos dreamed.

He dreamed Obi-Wan was in danger, but when reached out his hand across the darkness between the stars, someone had already saved him.

"Come back!" Quin cried, "Come back!"

But Obi-Wan was too far away.

"Please, come back!"

Nothing.

Quin woke, gasping, "Obi-Wan!" his hands searched the bed, but his friend wasn't here.

Because Obi-Wan was dead.

The Force brushed across his senses, making false a statement Quin had known to be true.

He kicked the covers off and went to the refresher to wash his face, the light flipped on and he glared into his own brown eyes.

The Force swirled around him in answer.

He glared harder and whispered, "What do you mean he's not dead?"

The Force didn't answer him.

Sassy tooka.

Quin's hands tightened on the sink's rim, the Force's attitude reminded him of Obi-Wan.

Shaking his head Quin left the room, he waited in the main room a moment, to see if he had woken Master Tholme up.

Thankfully, he hadn't.

Quin left, finding himself on the way to the creches before he had made up his mind what to do.

He was restless, and he didn't want to see the pitying looks his Master had been shooting at him for weeks.

Master Ali-Alann's room was easy to find. His youngest student was nine, which wasn't so young that he was necessarily busy all the time. When he knocked on the door, Master Ali-Alann opened it a moment later.

Clearly, he hadn't been sleeping, but, as Quin had hoped, he was alone.

Master Ali-Alann offered him a kind smile that was sad around the edges, "Quin-"

Quin threw his arms around the man's waist and the tall man wrapped him in a hug.

Creche masters never judged.

Ali-Alann led him to bed.

All creche masters had giant beds because it wasn't at all uncommon for a creche to sleep in a giant puppy pile.

It amused Quin how many people outside the Order thought Jedi were aloof mystics.

Well, sure, they were usually emotionally contained, though that was for practical reasons. Even having every youngling train in their initiate years was practical. Of all occupations in the Jedi Order, the Knights Corps demanded the most self control, it was the hardest path any of them could undertake and there was honour in that. It was a good thing they grew up aspiring to that, rather than to concepts of traditional families and freedom in the public eye.

It helped focus the initiates, Quin understood that, understood that it prepared them all for the potentially deadly nature of their gifts. If a Jedi lost control, people could get hurt. It was worth it.

But it was a shame that the galaxy didn't understand the lessons they were taught as younglings. To love everyone, to listen before being angry, to learn to respect themselves, and give respect to others, no matter how different they appeared to be.

Quin had been old enough to remember arriving at the Temple, older than Obi-Wan, old enough to remember his parents.

His parents who had said they loved him but never showed him love. His parents who gave him away for the ideal of fame and glory, and Master Ali-Alann who had gotten on his knees to welcome him home.

I love you, were words that held no meaning to Quin until he arrived at the Temple. Even if those words weren't often used, their meaning was always tangible.

"Do you want to speak of it?" Master Ali-Alann asked.

Quin swallowed hard, "I dreamed of Obi-Wan."

He felt Master Ali-Alann tense and the wash of pure sorrow that the man released into the Force. "I miss him too, youngling."

Quin was thirteen turning fourteen, he wasn't a youngling. But Quin doubted he would ever correct Master Ali-Alann on it.

"I dreamed he was alive," Quin continued, "and when I woke, the Force seemed to be trying to confirm it."

The Master stilled, before letting out a long breath. "Quinlan, he is with the Force, and he will always remain with us."

Quin shook his head, staring up at the nightlight of stars cast on the domed ceiling, honestly Creche Masters had the coolest residences in the Temple. "He's beyond reach, the Force isn't." His voice quieted, "What if he isn't dead?"

Master Ali-Alann touched his cheek, "My child…" He pulled Quin closer into the circle of his arms before he spoke again, "Sleep on it, and we will meditate on the matter in the morning."

Quin shut his eyes, burying his face in Ali-Alann's shoulder, knowing that it was a negation of belief.

Still…

Quin vowed never to mention it again, but he fell asleep, clinging to the hope that the Force had whispered into his dreams.

Obi-Wan was alive, and one day, Quin would meet him again.

AN: Thoughts, peregrine falcons, or feedback, pretty please?