Death's Choice

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Nope, really not mine.

AN: Not gonna apologize for the wait on this chapter… all will be revealed in due course. Anyway, on with the show.

Chapter 12: Geonosis

Jango stood at the back of the top box of the Geonosis arena behind Poggle the Lesser, the current leader of Geonosis; the Neimodian Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation, and his advisor; and Count Dooku of Serenno; with Boba and Harry on either side of him, as the Geonosians began the execution of the two Jedi and the senator. He wasn't sure why the insectoids were insisting on this spectacle for the execution, but to each their own, but if nothing else it should prove entertaining for the boys at least. And the creatures they had chosen where quite fascinating.

"Ba'buir?" he looked down as he felt a small tug on the sleeve of his kute. "Why are those creatures going after Mr. Kenobi?"

Of course, his five-year-old grandson wouldn't understand what was going on. And damn it, he liked the fucking Jedi. He should've thought about that before bringing the boys here. Well, it was too late for that now. All he could do now was make sure Harry didn't do something stupid, like try and save his newfound 'friend.'

"He got in trouble," the bounty hunter replied, lifting his grandson into his arms and settling him on his hip. "He did something he wasn't supposed to and now he has to face the consequences."

"This isn't because he kidnapped me, right?" tear filled green eyes drifted back to the arena. "Cause he didn't, not really. He shouldn't have to die for that."

"That's not why he's down there," Jango reassured him. "He did many other things to earn his place down there."

"But he's nice," Harry sniffed. "I could feel it. This is a mistake. You have to save him. Please, ba'buir?"

Jango would do practically anything to keep that look from Boba or Harry's face, but he couldn't interfere. Not only was it none of his business nor his place, but he didn't necessarily disagree with the course of events. After all, the only good Jedi was a dead Jedi.

Unable to do as the boy asked, he just pulled him close and lifted a hand to try and keep him from watching the inevitable as his own gaze drifted back to the arena. The acklay that had been sent after the redhead was now chasing him around as the chains that had secured him to the pole had somehow been snapped. The large reptilian creature, as well as the other two, were quite furious that their easy prey was now leading them on a rather frenzied chase. In its rage, the acklay charged at the pole, knocking it over toward the Jedi.

"No," Harry cried, his hand flying out in the direction of the redhead.

For a brief moment, everyone, except those fighting in the arena, stared in shocked surprise as a faint, transparent blue dome formed over the fallen Jedi. The pillar landed against the edge of the shield and rolled harmlessly to the side. It was apparent that, even without the barrier, Kenobi would've been fine but it did add a layer of protection from the flying debris. The shield flickered out as Harry buried his face in Jango's neck.

From there the individual battles continued for several long minutes, and everyone's attention seemed to have moved on from the strange phenomenon. The second Jedi finally managed to subdue the reek that had been sent after him and was now riding it over to assist the senator. The nexu was killed and a few moments later all three prisoners were safely on the horned beast's back. The turn of the tide must have triggered something as several droidekas entered the arena and surrounded them.

Before any further orders could be given, a brilliant purple blade appeared at Jango's throat. He managed to subtly shift Harry out of harm's way before leveling a glare at the fucker who dared pull a weapon on him, especially with his grandson in his arms. The fucker turned out to be a bald, dark skinned Jedi who did not seem pleased by the situation at all.

"Master Windu," the Count turned to the newcomer, "how pleasant of you to join us."

"This party's over," Windu shot a glare at the other.

As if on cue, lightsabers ignited all around the stadium and arena. The Geonosians began to flee in panic, adding to the chaos.

"Brave, but foolish, my old Jedi friend," Dooku said gravely. "You're impossibly outnumbered."

"I don't think so," the other scoffed.

"We'll see," the Count conceded.

The sound of marching metallic feet was approaching from the hallway. The lightsaber was finally removed from his person as the Jedi turned to face the new threat. Jango took a few hasty steps backward, trying to put more space between his boys and the inevitable fight that was about to break out.

As the first blaster bolts filled the air, he set Harry on the ground with a barked order at Boba to keep them both out of harm's way. He quickly donned his helmet and turned back to the fight, engaging his flamethrower and aiming it at the Jedi. He had to get the fucker away from his boys. Luckily, he was able to drive him over the edge of the balcony.

He barely managed to breathe a relieved sigh before he felt someone's intense gaze on him. He turned his head toward the source and met the assessing stare of Count Dooku.

"What?" he barked, his unease spiking.

"It was quite foolish of you to think you could hide him from me," the older man was deceptively calm.

"What do you mean?" Jango stiffened, his hand drifting toward his blaster.

"That boy," his gaze darted briefly to where Harry was huddled against Boba's side, "he is quite powerful."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said through clenched teeth.

"Do not try and lie to me," the Count's eyes narrowed as his zeroed in on the bounty hunter once more. "I felt his power when he interfered in the executions."

Damn it! He had hoped no one else had noticed that. Though, he wasn't going to give this bastard the satisfaction of knowing he'd hit the nail on the head, so he held his tongue.

"I do not know where you picked him up," Dooku continued, "but you will hand him over now. My master will be most interested in this one. That is if I don't decide to keep him for myself."

"Over my dead body."

Jango let his hand fall to his blaster. It was halfway out of the holster when the other was suddenly right there, mere inches from him. He heard the faint hiss of a lightsaber being ignited as a searing pain started just below his chest plate and blossomed through his chest.

"Those are terms I am willing to meet," the older man practically crooned in his ear as he slumped forward and the world faded around him.

888888

Kote stood in the bay of one of the three LAATs, his hand loosely wrapped around the overhead grip to keep him on his feet, as they made their descent to the planet's surface. Rex was at his left, battle ready as they had been trained, but the brunet could read the displeasure in every line of his being. Ever since their conversation with Prime, the blond had taken every available opportunity to let his newfound mistrust of the Jedi be known. Luckily, due to his interference, it had managed to be kept away from the visiting Jedi that had called for this mission.

Though, that was also the reason he, personally, wasn't on the lead LAAT, even though he had been named Marshall Commander before they'd shipped out. No, that honor went to Ponds, but it did leave him in charge of his own dropship, with Wolffe leading the third. Fox was positioned at forward command, while Bly and Gree were coordinating the ground assault. Theoretically, given his new rank, he should've been at forward command, but they had all agreed he was better positioned coordinating directly with the Jedi.

At the green troll's command, the three ships surrounded the survivors on the ground and provided cover fire. Several troopers from each ship, armed with heavy artillery, jumped out and began firing on the droids. As soon as the chance presented itself, the Jedi divided and boarded the dropship.

Only three ended up on his LAAT, two males and a female, though that was obviously more than the blond wanted. Though, the thought of seeing their son at the end of all this, kept him on point and focused on the battle at hand. With an inaudible sigh, Kote moved, taking Rex with him, until they were positioned as far away from the Jedi as possible.

The fight continued into the air, as they started taking out the Federation ships. The others broke off but the redheaded Jedi caught sight of something in the distance.

"Look over there," he pointed out three crafts flying away from the battle.

The Commander moved to his side to get a clearer view of the target. Using the advanced features in his helmet, he zoomed in to the leader, catching sight of something that didn't quite belong.

"It's Dooku," the younger Jedi, the Padawan he'd been identified as, cut in. "Shoot him down!"

"Belay that," Kote snapped.

"Commander," the redhead interjected calmly. "I have to agree with my Padawan. We need to take him out if we have the chance."

"I understand that, sir," he shook his head. "But there are extenuating circumstances."

"What extenuating circumstances?" the lone female frowned.

His gaze drifted over the troopers under his command. There weren't many on the dropship, a dozen at most, but he had picked each and every one of them. His eyes landed on Rex, who was still standing on the other side of the ship, his grip tightening on the handhold as the conversation went on. There were two troopers near the blond, Waxer and another he wasn't sure had chosen a name yet, and he subtly sent them a nonverbal command to restrain the other.

"There's a tooka situation, sir," he said aloud, causing all his brothers to stiffen slightly.

"A tooka si…" the younger Jedi's expression turned thunderous. "What are you talking about? That's not good enough! Shoot him down!" he directed the last toward the pilot.

Kote was glad he had taken the initiative and told the other two to take action as Rex made to attack the idiot. Though, he couldn't blame him, he was about ready to deck the Jedi too.

"We're out of rockets, sir," the pilot responded to the demand.

The Commander could've kissed the man. As CO he knew the weapons cache aboard the ship, and while they may have been out of rockets, which he was pretty sure they weren't but he wasn't a hundred percent, there were other weapons available to them. But the Jedi didn't know that, nor did he need to either. At least his brother was willing to follow his orders over theirs. Wait, hadn't he personally assigned Hawk to his ship? That actually made more sense now.

"Follow him," the Padawan growled.

Hawk nodded and continued to tail the speeder. The two other guard ships following Dooku pulled back and opened fire on them. A lucky shot sent the dropship lurching to the side. The sudden shift sent the female and Rex tumbling out the open hatch and onto the sand below.

The blond Jedi began to panic and started yelling alternately between his fallen companion and the pilot, demanding they turn around. Kote could, partially, understand where he was coming from. He didn't want to leave Rex behind, it went against his nature. However, he knew the blond would kill him if he allowed them to turn back now. They were closing in on Dooku and that much closer to getting their son back. Fortunately, the redhead was able to talk his Padawan down and they continued on their course.

888888

Harry woke up groggy and disoriented. A frown marred his features as his gaze drifted slowly around. He didn't recognize his surroundings and in his current state couldn't even begin to start trying to figure it out. This really needed to stop happening to him, he was getting really tired of it.

Well, whether he liked it or not, he did need to figure out where he was and what was going on. The last thing he remembered was standing behind Boba as a bright red blade blossomed from his ba'buir's side. There had been screaming, he wasn't sure if it had been him or Boba, or both. And… that was it.

That wasn't good. He knew that much. And on top of all that, he didn't feel safe here. On that note, he had to get out of there.

He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. He had to fight off a wave of dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him. Maybe he'd been drugged. He wouldn't know. His dads hadn't let him take part in that training. But even if he had been, he had to push through it and get a move on.

As his feet hit the floor, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Not wanting to get caught, he quickly scrambled for cover behind a nearby shelf. It wasn't the greatest of hiding places, but as had been pointed out many times, he was small and easily overlooked. Thankfully, it was only a droid. And not a very smart one at that, or more accurately hadn't been wired or programmed for great intelligence, as it stopped in front of the cot he'd recently vacated, just staring at it with its illuminated optic ports, seemingly unable to comprehend that it would be empty.

He shook his head. He couldn't think about that right now. He had to focus on getting out. With that in mind, he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. His face then scrunched up in concentration as he raised his hand.

Whenever he'd spent his time with Boba and his ba'buir was there, he'd always had them play a game. Ba'buir and Boba would take turns alternately holding or throwing various objects and have him retrieve them without touching and then sending them back in the same fashion. It was fun and he was getting pretty good at it, and it had made his ba'buir simultaneously anxious and very proud. Though, he had been ordered not to do it in front of anyone else, not even his dads, but if he slipped up occasionally that was his business. What his ba'buir didn't know couldn't hurt him, right?

On that note, he let his magic free and sent the droid flying into the wall. He didn't stick around to see if it had survived, instead he sprinted to the door. Once clear of the room, he realized he was in a small transport of some kind. He didn't stop to figure out what kind it was, but made his way to the open hatch.

In the hanger, his gaze was immediately drawn to an intense light sword? battle between the tall man who had stabbed his ba'buir and a small green goblin, or maybe a house elf, the ears kinda reminded him of a house elf. But he didn't want to be a distraction, or get in the way of those swords, so he quickly scrambled behind some nearby crates.

He watched as the fight continued, both combatants were scarily good and seemed to be evenly matched, even with the obvious difference in height. They were locked in a standstill when the taller man reached out one of his hands and a large structure of some sort began to crumple at the base and then started tilting precariously toward two figures he hadn't seen earlier lying prone on the ground. His own hand rose without real conscious thought and he tried to catch it with his magic.

Only it was too much for him and he only managed to slow it down. Luckily, the green creature seemed to have the same idea and it came to a stop a couple feet above the ground. It was the thrown behind the pair as the ramp of the ship he'd escaped from closed.

The ship took off and the creature appeared to shrink in on itself. The two figures on the ground slowly hobbled their way to their feet, and he was glad he had intervened as he recognized Mr. Kenobi as the one in the lighter clothing. He almost abandoned his cover to go over to him, when a woman in white, who he recognized from the arena, ran in, followed by at least a dozen vod'e.

His thoughts were derailed as he felt the presence of the lead trooper wash over him.

"Daddy!" he launched out from behind the crates and toward the man.

888888

Rex couldn't believe that he had let his guard down enough that he had allowed himself to be thrown from the dropship. He was kicking himself for letting that Jedi brat get under his skin like that, but this entire situation was making him crazy and throwing all his training out the window. He knew he needed to do better, and he would, starting right now.

Okay, time to focus. Someone else fell out of the transport as well, that's how he had ended up on the ground to begin with, they had taken him down with them. He had to find them, ascertain their condition, and head back to forward command. That was standard operating procedure. He could do this, even though every fiber of his being wanted to call a transport and head after Dooku. He half wished that Kote had turned the LAAT around to pick him up, but he would've killed him if he had.

He took a deep, calming breath before making his way over to see who his current companion was. As he drew near to where they had rolled after the initial fall, he saw it was the lone female they had picked up at the arena. He was half tempted to just leaver her where she lay, but no, he was doing better. So instead, he made sure she was alright and helped her to her feet.

"We better get back to the forward command center," his voice managed to remain steady.

"No," she countered. "No. Gather what troops you can. We've got to get to that hanger. Get a transport. Hurry!"

"Right away," he agreed readily.

He was glad the decision to chase down Dooku had been taken out of his hands. The senator, as he'd found out while they waited for the transport to arrive, was just as anxious as he was to rejoin the others. He was rather relieved she wasn't a Jedi.

Luckily, there was a dropship nearby and they were picked up in short order. He didn't know the commander in charge, he wasn't close to all the CCs, he wasn't Kote after all, but he did recognize at least two of the troopers on board. He almost sagged in relief as Jessie and Kix helped the two of them board.

It was short lived, however, as the medic immediately fell into his normal bullshit. Fortunately, aside from minor bruising from the fall, he was fine, and the other's attention was diverted to the visibly injured senator. Though, he could tell he wasn't the only one finding entertainment in this slip of a woman trying to out stubborn the stubborn medic. She was definitely giving any of their brothers a run for their money.

Too bad for Kix, they arrived at their destination before he could do more than apply a liberal amount of bacta spray to her back. They all jumped out just as another ship began leaving the hanger. All of them, including the senator, began firing immediately.

"Shoot to bring it down, not destroy," he barked over the internal comms. "We have a potential tooka situation here."

He received a round of affirmatives from his brothers as their aim shifted slightly, though he could tell the commander was glaring at him from behind his bucket. Unfortunately, due to the new orders, the ship managed to get away.

Accepting the new turn of events, they began making their way into the hanger. Just inside the entrance they found Kote and the other troopers from his ship. They fell into a loose formation as they continued down the hallway.

"Dooku got away," Rex informed Kote via private channel.

"I am aware," the brunet sighed quietly. "Couldn't be helped though."

"And the situation here?"

"Unclear," the other shook his head. "We held back as the Jedi advanced. You remember our training, we didn't want to get in the way. And they were the best choice to defeat him. We lacked the numbers."

"Tactically, that makes sense," the blond did his best not to growl. "But what about Harry? Are you sure he was here?"

"I wouldn't have called off that strike if I wasn't," Kote snapped, before taking a deep breath. "But Rex, we have to remember that Harry is resourceful. He was trained, not only by us and the alphas, but by Boba and Prime as well. We will find him, or he will find us. We have to believe that Rex."

"I know," he shook his head. "But he was supposed to be safe with Prime. Why isn't he with Prime?"

"Daddy!" a sharp cry cut off any further conversation.

All eyes turned to the source as a dark blur came flying out from behind a stack of crates. Rex barely had time to brace himself as he suddenly found his arms full of a sobbing little boy. He vaguely registered his weapon being removed from his grip as he pulled Harry more securely against his chest. His son was finally back and safe once more.

"Harry," he managed to choke out as his gloved hand rose to tangle in the messy black locks. "You were supposed to stay with Prime."

"He's gone," the boy sniffed. "Ba'buir's gone! He was protecting us."

"It's okay, Harry," Kote moved in front of the blond and wrapped his arms around both of them, sandwiching their son between their armored chests. "You're safe now. We've got you."

Rex wasn't sure if he was saying that more for Harry's benefit or theirs. Either way, it was the truth and he felt like he could finally breathe again. He could feel tears stinging the back of his eyes and he was glad for his bucket so no one could witness his lack of composure. Releasing a shuddering breath, he lowered his head and rested it against his son's, seeking the comfort and reassurance of more contact.

"Daddy," the boy whined, squirming slightly in their hold. "Your armor's uncomfortable."

A faint laugh escaped Kote's helmet, "We just got out of a battle, and we're technically still in enemy territory, we're not taking it off."

"Then Daddy needs to get his bucket head off me," Harry tried futilely to shift away from the helmet.

"Is that so?" the blond couldn't help but laugh at his son's antics, but he reached up with his free hand and released the seals on his helmet before slipping it off and letting it slip to the floor. He then continued to nuzzle the boy's head, earning himself delighted laughter from the youngling.

They continued for several moments, until Kote finally cleared his throat, bringing an end to their little game.

"As fun as it is to watch you both behave like fresh cadets," the brunet shook his head, "I do believe I said we're still in enemy territory, so we should probably take this elsewhere."

With that being said, he finally released them and bent to retrieve Rex's helmet. He then turned and led the way back out of the hanger.

888888

Obi-Wan painfully pushed to his feet, doing his best to keep weight off his injured left leg. Despite the pain, he had to get his Padawan up as well. Now that the battle was over they needed to focus on getting out of there.

"Anakin!" Padmé cried as she entered the hanger with several troopers.

She made a beeline for the younger man as the troops spread out over the room. The redhead graciously turned away to afford the pair some semblance of privacy, for now. He'd have to have a serious talk with Anakin later about all this. However, no one got very far when a sharp cry echoed through the room.

"Daddy!"

Blue-grey eyes widened in shocked surprise as he watched Harry emerge from behind a stack of crates and head straight for one of the troopers. What was he even doing here? Last thing he knew he was with Fett. He should be far away from this battle.

He continued to watch as the man gathered the boy to his chest and the Commander from the dropship wrapped his arms around the both of them, practically blocking the child from view. He started to move in their direction when he was painfully reminded of his injured leg.

"You're injured," a trooper with a stark red symbol painted on his shoulder approached him. "Let me have a look."

Ah, a medic then. Normally, he would've waved them off, but he noticed a couple others already maneuvering his Padawan onto a stretcher and knew it would be futile. So, he graciously allowed the medic to assist him to a nearby crate and sat down.

To distract himself from what the other was doing, he let his gaze drift back to the trio still in the middle of the room. He watched in some bemusement as the man who had caught the youngling reached up and removed his helmet, revealing shockingly blond short cropped hair. He thought they were all identical. Wasn't that the whole point of the cloning process? Admittedly, he had not truly been paying attention when the Kaminoans had been explaining everything, and he really didn't personally care. It was just curious to him how this one had managed to slip past the strict parameters the cloners had held their 'products' to.

"Pardon me?" he hissed slightly as the medic prodded at his wound. "Would you be able to tell me who those two troopers are over there?"

The trooper tilted his head to follow his gaze, "That's Marshal Commander CC-2224 and CT-7567, sir."

"2224," he frowned.

Why did that sound familiar? Wait, wasn't that what Fett had called the clone that turned out to be one of Harry's fathers?

"Are you saying that's Cody?" he turned to look at the medic. "And would that possibly mean that the blond one is Rex?"

"Sir?" he could feel the confusion and wariness practically pouring off the man.

"Please, you must tell me if they are Cody and Rex," he insisted. "I promised Harry I would return him to his parents, and I have to know he is safe."

The medic's gaze seemed to bore into his very soul, even from behind the helmet. And he couldn't help but feel he had been found wanting. Before he could process or assess the situation further, the trooper's head snapped to lock on a point to his left.

"Jessie, no!"

Obi-Wan barely had time to register the words, or the threat they implied, before something solid connected hard with the side of his head, and darkness overtook him.


Ammie: Harry has finally made his way back to his dads, and I feel so sorry for Rex in this whole ordeal. Anyway, if anyone is interested, I have created a podfic for this fic on AO3, feel free to check it out, or not, your choice. Anyway, please let me know what you think.