A/N: This is set as post-season one, and I might as well declare it an AU. Also note that I'm theorizing that Crosshair does still have his chip. Title is a Rebels reference.
This story came when I saw a post that said something along the lines of, "Obi-Wan can't leave his house without finding an unconscious teenage boy and his droid" and I just... I had to. The clones are technically teenagers, right? XD
There's a starfighter half-buried in the sand.
Obi-Wan looks at the sky -reminds himself that, yes, Tatooine has two suns, he's not seeing double- at his dewback, to the rocks around them, then back to the ship. He looks at the scanner, then at the chirping astromech wheeling back-and-forth on the wing.
He does not look at the pilot.
He tries very hard to not look at the pilot.
Okay, he looks.
The pilot is unconscious and in black armor, but the brief glance Obi-Wan throws at his uncovered face is enough for his mind to scream "Clone!" at him, so he backs up. It's just one clone in a wrecked ship, but Obi-Wan is not doing that again. He turns away, intent on going back to his house and pretending he never saw the craft.
The astromech lets out a distressed wail.
"Artoo-" Obi-Wan says before he can stop himself.
It's not Artoo. He doesn't know where Artoo is. And it's not like Artoo's the only astromech with personality.
The astromech makes noise… like a baby tooka.
Obi-Wan knows astromechs aren't programmed with that noise.
Against his better judgement, Obi-Wan turns back to the starfighter and squints past the transparisteel.
At first glance, the pilot doesn't appear to be a clone, but Obi-Wan recognizes his narrow face and tattoo over one eye. He's part of a squad Cody… Cody used to work with. The clone's name is Crosshair.
Great, now he's got a name. And the astromech's still whimpering.
"Fine, fine, I'll help, just stop with that noise!" Obi-Wan said.
The astromech chirps happily and spins in a circle. Obi-Wan looks more closely at it, for an excuse to keep away from the clone for a bit longer.
The mech's white and sandy brown. It's paint is scratched, so Obi-Wan can't read most of its manufacturer's code, just a B and a zero.
"B-zero…" Obi-Was strokes his beard, then shakes his head. "I'm going to call you Bo."
Bo chirps and spins his dome in excitement.
"Yes, yes, you're welcome."
Now, to the clone. Crosshair. Who still hasn't moved. Is he even alive?
Obi-Wan automatically reaches out. He can sense Crosshair, so he's still alive, at least. Obi-Wan wonders if Crosshair would try to kill him if he was conscious, like all the other clones he's encountered.
Either way, Obi-Wan can't exactly leave him, can he? Even if Crosshair isn't injured, he wouldn't be able to make it out of the desert all by himself. Not without a guide, at least. And Bo's bound to freeze up anytime, considering all the sand that always jams up droids.
"You can stop whimpering," Obi-Wan tells Bo.
Bo gives a squealing whine.
"I am going to help him!"
The whine shuts off immediately, and Obi-Wan resists the urge to make sure it isn't Artoo with a new paint job. He's got more important things to do.
The wreck badly damaged the starfighter's canopy, so it's fairly easy for Obi-Wan to push it up and let it fall to the side. That's when he can hear Crosshair breathing, but it… doesn't sound good.
Obi-Wan leans back to consider his options. Crosshair doesn't actually look too bad, considering the wreck. His face is bruised and scratched, and he has what looks like a half-healed wound on the side of his head. But if his breathing is any indication, Crosshair probably damaged his lungs or, worse, broke a rib and punctured a lung.
Removing Crosshair from the starfighter would risk hurting him further if he's broken ribs, but Obi-Wan also can't treat him while he's in the ship. Obi-Wan leans closer, and that's when he spots the real problem.
The console was broken in two jagged pieces in the crash. One part is jammed into Crosshair's right leg, and there's a lot of blood on the floor.
Obi-Wan looks at Crosshair's face. He's stopped seeing the sharpshooter as an enemy, but as someone who just needs help. He can't just leave someone to die.
Even if there's a pretty high chance Crosshair will try to kill him when he wakes up. Honestly, what happened to the clones?
First, he needs supplies. Obi-Wan goes to Dewey, his dewback, and grabs the medkit he carries everywhere. Living alone in the middle of nowhere means he has to be ready for most emergencies, a fact he's currently grateful for.
He returns to the ship, and gets right to work. Using a strip of bandages, Obi-Wan ties a tourniquet just above Crosshair's knee, wincing when he has to lift the trapped leg just enough to get the bandages around his leg.
Now for the interesting part. Obi-Wan stares at the busted console, trying to gauge how much is in Crosshair's leg. The greave is shattered, and Obi-Wan knows there's going to be plastoid in the wound. If anything's going to wake up Crosshair, it's going to be Obi-Wan fishing around the inside of his leg.
Obi-Wan turns that thoroughly unpleasant thought around in his mind for a second, then sighs. He considers searching his medkit for a sedative, but knows he won't find one and shouldn't waste time. Crosshair's still bleeding, and his breathing isn't getting any steadier.
"Alright, then," Obi-Wan says, and gets to work.
Luckily, the console is warm, likely from an earlier fire Bo must have put out. The heat-softened metal is relatively easy for Obi-Wan to pull back with his hands.
No sooner does Obi-Wan remove the broken console does blood gush out of Crosshair's leg. Giving a startled grunt, Obi-Wan clamps both hands on Crosshair's leg, wincing when Crosshair groans. Blood instantly oozes between Obi-Wan's fingers.
"Bo, get the pack!" Obi-Wan orders, not daring to move his hands.
Bo chirps and whines. Obi-Wan doesn't move his gaze until a wad of bandages is thrown on Crosshair's lap.
Using one blood-stained hand, Obi-Wan grabs the bandages and shakes out a length. He wants to wrap up the torn leg, but he can feel the hard prick of plastoid against his palm.
At least, he hopes it's just plastoid.
"Bo, there's a small tweezer case inside the kit," Obi-Wan says. "I'll need that, and… actually, can you fit up here?"
Bo flies beside Obi-Wan with his thrusters. Obi-Wan slips to the side so he's sitting half in and half outside the cockpit, letting Bo land on the console remains.
"Bo, I need you to find any pieces of metal and plastoid inside Crosshair's leg, and pull it out with your pincers," Obi-Wan says.
Bo gives a worried chirp.
"You'll be fine. Your pincers are faster and more precise than my hands." Force, why is Obi-Wan pep-talking an astromech? "Crosshair's leg needs to be sewn up quickly, but I can't leave debris in the wound, understand?"
Bo beeps in confirmation, and a small panel opens on his front. His pincers are narrow and perfectly articulated. The design is probably for delicate ship repairs, though they're also perfect makeshift tweezers.
Crosshair twitches each time Bo puts his pincers into the wound, but Obi-Wan can't spare a glance at his face. He's doing his best to keep Crosshair's wound covered, leaving small sections exposed for Bo to scan and clean. Bo's making a sad whining sound, but he keeps at his job.
In what feels like forever, but is probably just a few minutes, Bo has the wound cleaned up. Obi-Wan quickly binds the leg in bandages so he can get Crosshair outside and flat before he stitches the wound up. As he ties off the bandage, he happens to glance up.
Crosshair's eyes are open and fixed on him.
Obi-Wan's moving before Crosshair, throwing himself backward in a roll that lands him feet-first on the sand. Not that it really matters. Crosshair's punch is so wide and clumsy that Obi-Wan doubts it would have connected in the first place.
"You're welcome," Obi-Wan says blandly when Crosshair doesn't immediately follow up with a second "attack."
Crosshair stares at Obi-Wan for a long minute. His expression is devoid of emotion, though Obi-Wan's pretty sure that's his normal face.
Crosshair moves suddenly, raising one hand. Obi-Wan jumps instinctively to the side, barely avoiding a pistol bolt. He has to keep moving, as Crosshair keeps firing.
"That's completely-" -Obi-wan side-stepped another bolt- "-unnecessary, Crosshair, you-" -dodge another blast- "If you'd just-" -Obi-Wan darts to the other side of the starfighter- "Put the blaster down!"
Crosshair wretches his body to the side, reaiming for Obi-Wan, who runs around the back of the starfighter. He's not sure how to go about dealing with the now hostile sharpshooter, because he didn't patch him up just to hurt him further!
There's a thud and a bit-off hiss of pain. Obi-Wan leans around the ship's tail, rolling his eyes when he sees Crosshair's climbed outside.
"That's pointless," Obi-Wan says. "You can't even-"
Crosshair stands.
"Oh, fantastic."
Obi-Wan ducks away from another blast and presses against the tail. He listens hard, then gives a huff when he hears shuffling footsteps.
"Very well, then."
Obi-Wan reaches into the Force and hurls himself backward as Crosshair rounds the tail. He lands lightly beside Dewey and grabs his lightsaber hilt from where he stashes it under the saddle.
In the time it takes Crosshair to spot him again -which is, admittedly, way longer than normal- Obi-Wan's activated his lightsaber defensively. Obi-Wan doesn't really expect the lightsaber to intimidate Crosshair in his current state, and he's right.
Obi-Wan is careful to deflect the bolts over Crosshair's head, giving Crosshair a bland look for the several minutes that Crosshair shoots nonstop. If Crosshair notices or cares, he doesn't show it. Come to think of it, most of his shots are wide.
...he's looking a bit wobbly, too.
Obi-Wan leaps to the other side of the starfighter, then runs behind Crosshair. As Crosshair turns, Obi-Wan lunges for his pistol. Crosshair jerks away, firing awkwardly at Obi-Wan under his arm, forcing Obi-Wan to dodge. Crosshair runs backwards and darts behind the starfighter's wing.
Obi-Wan groans in annoyance. Crosshair's acting fairly fine; maybe he should just leave and let Crosshair get himself to a town.
The idea is appealing, until Obi-Wan looks down and sees a pool of blood at his feet. Blood splatters lead from the front of the starfighter to the pool, and away where Crosshair has taken temporary refuge. How is Crosshair still conscious?
Crosshair surges back into sight, firing rapidly. Obi-Wan takes a Force-powered jump to the opposite side of the ship. Bo beeps worriedly as Obi-Wan lands.
"I'm trying," Obi-Wan says.
Obi-Wan grabs the medkit, keeping an eye on Crosshair, who's apparently trying to figure out where Obi-Wan went. Obi-Wan digs out a suture kit and roll of bandages, then leaps again when Crosshair turns.
Bolts follow Obi-Wan's leap, all far enough away that he doesn't have to deflect any. Obi-Wan lands in a crouch. He straightens to watch Crosshair stagger into sight.
"Stand down," Obi-Wan orders uselessly. "I'm trying to help you!"
Crosshair slips on the blood-soaked sand, and narrowly catches himself on the ship. He's panting heavily like he's been running, and his frantic movements have unwound half of the bandages.
Obi-Wan looks at Crosshair's gaping wound and the growing puddle of blood under his feet, and is mildly impressed at Crosshair's stubbornness.
Seriously, though, how is Crosshair still conscious?!
Obi-Wan realizes he can't keep the chase going. Crosshair's so determined to shoot him, that he'd probably run himself to death rather than give in to a little thing like severe blood loss.
"Very well," Obi-Wan says, drawing himself up, "I apologize in advance, Crosshair."
Crosshair responds by lifting his pistol. Before he can shoot, Obi-Wan lifts both hands and shoves.
Crosshair's thrown onto his back, and Obi-Wan surges forward. Before Crosshair can recover, Obi-Wan's thrown himself over the sharpshooter. He wretches the pistol from Crosshair's grasp and flings it as far away as he can.
Though weaponless, Crosshair doesn't submit. Obi-Wan has to dodge a couple wild swings before he can catch Crosshair's arms. Obi-Wan turns his body quickly so he's facing Crosshair's legs. He pins Crosshair's arms under his knees, then reaches his hands to force Crosshair's legs flat on the ground.
Under normal circumstances, Obi-Wan knows he could never pin someone in such a way, but Crosshair's so weak that he can't free his arms. His uninjured leg flails when Obi-Wan sits back, but since he's on his back, Crosshair doesn't have enough flexibility to do anything.
Ignoring Crosshair's furious growls and grunts, Obi-Wan opens the suture kit and prepares a needle and thread. Sand coats Crosshair's injury, so Obi-Wan brushes the wound as clean as he can, then wipes his hand on the ground.
The action is futile, of course. Obi-Wan suspects he'll be scrubbing his hands for days before the blood's completely gone.
Obi-Wan takes the small flask of antiseptic liquid from the suture kit and removes the cork. His nose screws at the foul smell.
"This will sting," Obi-Wan says apologetically to the growling Crosshair.
Crosshair responds by kicking both legs up. Obi-Wan doesn't bother dodging. Having given his warning Obi-Wan presses Crosshair's injured leg flat, then pours the antiseptic over the wound.
The body under him jerks hard, but that isn't what makes Obi-Wan falter. It's the broken, wounded howl coming from behind him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Obi-Wan mutters.
Crosshair kicks once more, then goes slack. Obi-Wan braces himself for another attempt at freedom, but Crosshair doesn't move.
Slightly more worried now but grateful for Crosshair's stillness, Obi-Wan grabs the needle. He pinches the jagged edges of the wound together and swiftly sews it shut. He wraps the bandages around the oozing wound and ties it off, then leaps backward.
Crosshair doesn't move. Obi-Wan doesn't know if he should be grateful for the lack of attack… or worried about the lack of attack.
Obi-Wan steps closer, staying on guard in case Crosshair is trying to trick him. Crosshair remains still and silent. Obi-Wan thinks he's being too quiet, hadn't his breathing been-
Kriff.
Crosshair's not breathing. His chest is still, his face slack and turning an unnatural shade of white.
Obi-Wan's in motion before he even thinks about it. He drops to the ground and rips off Crosshair's chest piece, pausing only long enough to check for a pulse before beginning chest compressions.
One, two, three-
Obi-Wan counts off, then checks for a pulse. Nothing. He does another round, then another, and another. Before he realizes it, he's talking his way through each set.
"C'mon, Crosshair, get that heart pumping again and breathe, that's it. Come back, I thought you guys were stubborn."
Obi-Wan pauses, panting from effort. Still nothing from the unconscious Crosshair. Obi-Wan throws himself back to the compressions, knowing Crosshair's chances are dying with every second his heart is stopped.
"Work with me, Crosshair, you didn't come all this way to just die, did you? C'mon, I didn't even touch you, do you really want to die because of a scratch?"
When Crosshair remains unresponsive, Obi-Wan finds his voice becoming more frantic.
"What is it, then? You came all this way, wrecked, chased after me -it was pathetic, by the way, just painful to watch- and tried to shoot me. So, you failed, who cares, I'm not going to tell anyone, your secret's safe, if you'd just breathe, damn it, Cody!"
Obi-Wan jerks back as he realizes the name that's slipped from his lips.
Cody. A close friend and confidant during those seemingly endless days of the war. There were few people he trusts as much as he trusts Cody, but now Obi-Wan doesn't have any idea where he is.
Was Cody caught up in whatever happened to the rest of the clones to turn them against the Jedi? Did he try to defend Obi-Wan? Where is he now? Is he even alive?
The questions have plagued Obi-Wan for months, but he has no answers. Some days, he wonders if he'll ever find out the truth, about Cody and the actions of the clones.
Obi-Wan looks at Crosshair. He isn't Cody, just another clone of the former GAR.
"I couldn't… I can't save Cody," Obi-Wan confides to Crosshair's unmoving form. "I couldn't save Anakin. I couldn't save Padme. I couldn't…"
Obi-Wan exhales heavily. He tells himself it's all the sand in the air making his eyes blur.
"I lost everyone in that forsaken war," Obi-Wan says brokenly. "Watched them all die in front of my eyes. So many friends, so many good soldiers, good men."
Obi-Wan inhales raggedly and looks fiercely at Crosshair. "And Force help me, I'm not ready for you to join them."
His hands raise, almost on their own. Obi-Wan closes his eyes and, for the first time since stepping foot on Tatooine, opens his mind to the Force.
The Force… has never felt so broken and jagged. Full of pain and suffering, of betrayal and fear.
It steals Obi-Wan's breath, and he's nearly dragged to despair. But as he falls forward, his hands land on Crosshair, and Obi-Wan senses it.
Crosshair isn't dead yet. The presence is small and weak, a fluttery whisper caught in the roiling torment of the Force. But Obi-Wan knows it's him.
Obi-Wan grasps at the presence. It's flighty, yet clings to him. Darkness tints Crosshair's mind, darker and more dangerous than everything else Obi-Wan senses.
Instinctively, Obi-Wan tries to push back the darkness, but Crosshair's presence flees with it. For a breathless moment, Obi-Wan thinks he's truly gone, but then he senses Crosshair again.
The darkness… isn't just surrounding Crosshair's mind. The two are threaded together, shifting and writhing. It's as much Crosshair as his own mind. If Obi-Wan separates them, Crosshair will die.
Obi-Wan can feel himself drifting, having immersed himself in the Force to an almost dangerous level. With no one else to ground him, Obi-Wan risks losing himself.
After a moment, Obi-Wan decides he doesn't care, and grasps at the darkness. He can't rid Crosshair of the darkness, but maybe…
In a desperate bid born of exhausted recklessness and determination, Obi-Wan thrusts light into the darkness in Crosshair's mind. It fights back, stronger than Obi-Wan thought, but Obi-Wan is determined to do this one thing right.
Slowly, bit by bit, the darkness is overtaken by light. Crosshair's presence strengthens, even as Obi-Wan can feel his own mind slipping.
The last bit of darkness is stubborn, clinging to Crosshair's mind. Obi-Wan, knowing he can't remain in the Force any longer -maybe it's already too late- grasps the presence… and forces his own being into Crosshair's.
The darkness shatters and Obi-Wan's senses spin away. He's vaguely aware of his body hitting sand and a confused mumble, then everything goes dark.
Obi-Wan wakes up. He considers that a good sign, considering he passed out beside a sharpshooter that had actively been trying to kill him.
Taking a moment to collect himself, Obi-Wan lets his senses roam.
He's on his back in the sand, a light blanket covering him and something bulky under his head. He's unbound in any way, which he takes as another good sign. A fire crackles nearby, and he can hear Dewey shuffling around.
Obi-Wan opens his eyes to the night sky. He blinks for a minute, then turns his head toward the fire's glow.
Crosshair is sitting across the campfire, his bad leg stretched out and splinted with metal. His eyes are on Obi-Wan, expressionless, and he's chewing on something poking out of his mouth. Bo, waiting at Crosshair's side, gives a cheerful little chirp.
Obi-Wan sits up slowly, feeling drained and a bit sore, but not too bad. He stretches a kink out of his back, then turns to Crosshair.
"Feeling better?" Obi-Wan can't help the snark escaping into his voice.
"What happened?" Crosshair asks flatly.
"You mean before or after you tried to kill me?"
...yikes, Anakin really rubbed off on him.
Crosshair blinks at him. "What?"
Obi-Wan gestures to the ship wreckage at the end of the firelight. "You wrecked, and your droid sent out a distress signal I happened to pick up. I found you, alone, and tried to fix you up before you attacked me."
Crosshair is quiet for a long moment.
"What do you remember last?" Obi-Wan eventually asks.
"Kaller. My squad and I were fighting with General Billaba… we had the droids on the run…" Crosshair squints in thought. "Her padawan, Caleb, was with us, when… kriff!"
"Crosshair?"
Crosshair hisses through his teeth, brows drawing down a tiny bit. "We betrayed them. I betrayed them. The Jedi, my brothers…"
Obi-Wan waits in silence. Crosshair's fragmented explanation lines up with Obi-Wan's hopes that the clones hadn't chosen to betray the Jedi. Of course, why would they have?
Crosshair touches his head and keeps talking, but seems to be talking to himself. "They tried to warn me. I tried to fight it. I did fight it. I couldn't kill my brothers…"
Crosshair inhales and collects himself. He looks at Obi-Wan and states, "Hunter let the kid live."
"The padawan?" Obi-Wan confirms.
Crosshair nods once. "I'm sure of it. I don't know about the general, we left her with her squad…"
Then Obi-Wan knows of Depa's fate. But at least her padawan escaped. Obi-Wan hopes he found safety.
"Why now?" Crosshair muses. Obi-Wan doesn't realize Crosshair's talking to him until the sharpshooter turns his head. "I can… I can think again."
Obi-Wan thinks how the darkness had shattered, and offers, "Whatever it was that made you attack Caleb must have been broken when I was trying to heal you."
"The chip?" Crosshair touches his head again, a tiny smile touching his lips. "You broke the chip."
"What chip?" Obi-Wan asks, lurching to his feet.
"It's a long story," Crosshair says. He's calm and collected again, though Obi-Wan sees the happy relief in his eyes.
Obi-Wan gestures to the broken ship. "We have time."
A/N: Obi-Wan's pleas with Crosshair to wake up was originally sillier, but it didn't sound natural. Then I remembered that scene in Rebels where Rex is confused and calls out Cody's name. That hurt, so obviously, I had to use it here.
It's going to stay a one-shot, as I didn't want to rewrite everything the two had gone through.