TagChange: This doesn't really come up until chapter twenty, because kids and romance is not what I'm here for. But I do want to write a lowkey romance with two same sex characters, (and yes, Obi-Wan can like gals and dudes, magic ). Before hate mailing me, remember that I am not straight, I do typically avoid this because being called unnatural and ruining my story is not what I enjoy waking up to but it's also not fun to avoid a natural plot progression because it doesn't suit everyone. But please don't rant at me that it's unacceptable when homosexaul people enjoy stories with hetropairings. Nor do I need to know what your personal preferences are because I don't know you and I'm not basing my characters off of who you are. You don't have to match the gender and preferences of characters to sympathize with their emotions or enjoy their fictional adventures.

I will not be writing smut, I will not have him dating lots of people, I will not be breaking my characters to do this, nor will I write dom/sub, kink, yada, yada. Just while writing this chapter I realized Obi-Wan is going to be more open to relationships now that he is part of a community that has a larger emphasis on family connections.

Quinlan Vos/Obi-Wan Kenobi, will be the only pairing and not until they are much older like a 60-100k words from now.

Keynote: So, again, I'm investigating both good and bad things of Mandalorian culture as I would imagine it. And that blurred lines when from the outsider's views the actions of a single person reflect on their assumptions of the rest of the group.

Warning: Serial killer? I'm a terrible person, honestly, why does anyone read my work?

Chapter 8 - More than a Horror Story

Again, Jango woke with a bundle of radiating heat glued to his side. However, this morning he didn't rush out of bed, seeing as getting up had woken up his ad'ika yesterday.

Considering what he had done for them, the child deserved as much sleep as he wanted.

Obi'ika hadn't actually saved his life, but that shot had been well timed and had certainly saved him from a few bruises.

Sniping was an excellent skill, but among Mandalore's population it was among the least popular.

Yes, it was an essential skill, one that Jango himself was quite successful in. But he was a bounty hunter by trade, and despite what the rest of the galaxy believed, the majority of their people were not bounty hunters and mercenaries.

Admittedly, none of them disrupted that image as it kept outsiders from karking with them.

Jango sighed quietly, he bowed his head to look at the child draped over his chest. He couldn't stop himself from petting the soft hair, which luckily didn't wake Obi'ika up.

It worried him that he was still having nightmares, though he wasn't surprised. Jango was also worried by how clingy Obi-Wan was.

Well, actually, there was a lot more that worried him about his new ad'ika. Obi-Wan had fought on Mandalore before? He was clearly used to killing and even familiar with destroying battle droids, which were uncommon given how expensive and clunky they were. Jango desperately wanted to know who he had been fighting and for how long. He wasn't sure if he believed that he didn't remember who had been fighting for.

He knew Jaster didn't believe it.

Obi'ika was most likely lying to them, but why?

More than likely he had been a member of Death Watch, which would account for his being in active combat.

Which would be another thing that wouldn't endear him to Jaster, not when Obi-Wan's aim was that good. Was it possible that Obi'ika had killed members of their clan or killed innocents?

In Jango's mind that was more of reason to take the child in. He deserved better than to be used like that. The challenges of healing Obi'ika became ever more difficult in that scenario. He clearly wanted help, wanted an aliit, but to be ex-Death Watch... it would be difficult to get Obi'ika to trust him, and harder still to prove to him that his worth to the clan was more than as a weapon.

The latter would be harder to back up. Having been raised by Jaster, training and doing jobs was where Jango was at his best. Additionally, Mandalore was headed toward straight war.

With the direct line of the royal family dead, now the next closests families were Tor Vizsla, the karking leader of Death Watch, and Adonai Kryze, who was an ally of the True Mandalorians, but regrettably, was not a supporter of the Supercommando Codex. Adonai wanted to blaze a new path, for something new, to let the past die and look forward and not back.

Unfortunately, what that meant, not even Adonai could articulate. He wanted new. But what that sounded like to Jango was destruction of their culture and erasing their history, the bad and the good.

Vizsla wanted to embrace all the worst aspects of their peoples' histories, the violence, the assaults, the muardading, and the corruption.

A karking idealist and terrorists. As if anything could be worse than the Republic, Mandalore was currently trying to accomplish it.

Personally, Jango thought they should do away with any royal family, they should have the Mando'alor, that was both a military and semi-elected position, and then a Prime Minister that was purely civilian election.

Jaster wasn't ready to play politics, he was more determined to end Death Watch. Jango argued that vying for the political position would rally people to their cause.

However, the Kryze clan was both big enough, with a large enough amount of the planet's military falling in behind the Kryze clan, that Jaster didn't want to throw up the line of succession completely in the fear that any Royalists would turn to Vizsla.

Jango sighed again, rubbing Obi'ika's back as Jaster had done for him once when he had been grieving his birth family. He was concerned by Obi'ika's need for touch, but he didn't mind it. For Jango, it did help solidify their new relation.

Jango was a buir now.

The thought brought a smile to face, a smile that brightened as Obi'ika began to wake. The child pressed his face into Jango's blacks, his face pinching as his mind tried to identify him.

Obi'ika opened his grey eyes, looking up at Jango with a slight frown, "Commander Cody?"

That was the second time Obi-Wan had called him that, Cody. The military title was new though, and it confused Jango more than anything.

The royal military were the only ones who used military designations, but Jango had made it a point to know all the higher ups, and there was no Commander that had a name anywhere close to Cody. Which made Jango doubt again Obi'ika's background. Death Watch certainly had never used formal military ranks and Jango would eat his blaster if Obi-Wan was from Corillia.

The Corillian Academy consisted of rich and apathetic militants who rarely saw combat despite the corruption of the planet it was located on. The other Republic Academies were even more elitist.

Maybe Obi'ika had belonged to a smaller clan, or a mere group of kids that had decided to use titles as nicknames. He had mentioned an ori'vod, an older brother.

Obi-Wan blinked rapidly, "Jango?"

He ruffled his ad's hair, "Come on, ad'ika, we have a big day ahead of us."

Obi-Wan was nervous when Jango said they would have a big day.

The True Mandalorian base was indeed just a big warehouse.

But it was built on old bones, not just literal ones but stone ones. The foundations of giant pillars was nothing like the artful and delicate marble work of Naboo.

No, these were the foundations of buildings that had been giant, meant to withstand any war and shelter large gatherings.

Obviously, it hadn't withstood the test of time, but it reminded Obi-Wan of the Temple all the same.

Another soft reminder that at their heart the Jedi and the Mandalorians weren't so different if governed by different limitations.

Obi-Wan certainly was in no position to defend the Jedi after the Clone Wars that dragged the entire galaxy into a civil war because of a handful of renegade Force sensitives.

On one hand, Obi-Wan understood why so many people hated and feared Force sensitives.

But even if his mother had succeeded in drowning him, he didn't think he would have wished to be other than he was. If had died as a youngling, he would have been able to embrace the Force as it embraced him.

Because ultimately, the Jedi Order was a religion, and unlike so many others, Obi-Wan knew, knew in his heart, in his mind that there was a greater purpose to life, that they did indeed come from the same place, that they were connected, and that there was something bigger out there beyond the stars, beyond death.

Life continued absolutely, he needed his faith to trust the Force, but he didn't need faith to believe.

He could feel life around him, he could feel the brush of stars, and even if he was never able to really use his gifts again, even if he died, or the Force stopped speaking to him, he would always know beyond a doubt that all life was precious, even his own.

Jango caught Obi-Wan at the elbow as he slid a bit with one of the broken stones that tumbled down the slope. Dirt and plant life had broken through what had at one point been ginormous slabs of stone.

"You alright, ad'ika?" Jango asked.

Obi-Wan nodded, not fighting Jango taking his hand. Obi-Wan tried to remember the last time someone had really taken care of him in his old life?

Maybe Siri? But their affair had been more about physical comfort and if there had been love it had been tough love.

Of course, she had died at the start of the war, one loss in a sea of losses.

Anakin certainly never cared unless Obi-Wan was in mortal danger. Obi-Wan hadn't really figured out how to "express emotion" that didn't lead to him blowing up. Which was a natural response if someone kept needling you to feel something. If you gave Anakin an inch, he wanted everything else, even if he was unlikely to be able to handle it.

He had learned that the hard way when he had made a semi-harsh remark about Master Qui-Gon and Anakin had flown into a rage and run away from the Temple for full a week.

Anakin had been fifteen at the time and Obi-Wan had spent seven days running around the underbelly of Coruscant while Anakin laughed it up while staying in a guest wing of the Chancellor's apartment.

Obi-Wan had been more than a little concerned, for a multitude of reasons. He'd actually had a mental break, but that was neither here nor there.

With Jango holding his hand now, Obi-Wan realized the only person he hadn't cut himself off from after Qui-Gon's death, had been Cody. Which was depressing, seeing as he had only known Cody for a couple of months.

But war was like that, time didn't really function the same on battlefields. Every day could feel like a lifetime.

He looked up at Jango, that face he'd seen on a million faces, but unlike the people he met on Kamino, including Jango himself, this man was unbroken.

A free man driven by hope for his people, not revenge.

Jango offered him a small smile in return, squeezing his hand.

You're not alone, Obi'ika.

Obi-Wan didn't want to be alone, and maybe good things could come of leaving the Order behind. He would always have to be mindful of attachments, of obsessions, he was a Force sensitive after all and such temptations of over indulgence would always be there.

But that didn't mean it wasn't a line he couldn't walk. He might never take another Padawan, but that didn't mean he couldn't have children of his own one day, adopt, have a traditional marriage.

He wouldn't have to pretend he hadn't fallen in love with them for the public.

As he was now, he had literally zero desire for sexual anything, of which he was glad. Because sex had stood in for what he had always wanted from another, a partner, like Qui-Gon had Tahl. Or Plo and Roena, a female who lived a quiet life outside of the Temple, off of Coruscant, but when Plo spoke of her, it was clear that not only did he love her but they were the dearest friends.

Obi-Wan had always desired that, but for one reason or another, it had never worked out.

Jango let go of his hand, indicating they had finally arrived. They walked to the near the opposite side of the building from the hangar and down several flights of stairs, but when the doors swooshed open, Obi-Wan understood why it was worth the trouble and why they defended this as their base and had not yet found a new location.

It was a forge, enormous, with more tools than a host of smiths could hope to use all of.

Maas's dirty face popped up from where he had been sitting.

Obi-Wan offered him a small wave.

Maas grinned, "You're here! Come see! We worked through the night."

With an encouraging nod from Jango, Obi-Wan approached a low stone table, the artificial lights clashing a bit with the warmth of the open fire.

Obi-Wan felt his breath go out when he saw the suit of beskar. He hardly dared to touch it, wondering how many of his troops would have burst into tears at such a gift. Obi-Wan, however... "I don't deserve this."

"On the contrary," Agni said moving into the light from a separate station he had been working in, "You do."

Obi-Wan didn't know what to say as he looked back down at the child size armour that would have to be remade or passed on as he grew.

Agni continued, "The helmet will take more time, the coms are a bit more technical. My adiik and I need some sleep before we can finish that kind of work but the rest is simply waiting on paint."

Jango placed a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, "I want you to wear it. If you are going to ignore my orders and run into the line of fire, then I need you to be as safe as I can make you."

Obi-Wan smiled as he remembered the first argument he had ever had with Cody.

"What's so funny, Obi'ika?" Jango coaxed.

Obi-Wan gave an inch, Cody didn't exist therefore speaking of him couldn't jeopardize any of the secrets he needed to keep. "My vod, one of my vode, I should say, would have wanted me to wear this."

He's pretty sure Cody would have been able to sleep better if he had.

"You are one of us, Obi'ika," Jango told him with sincerity.

Obi-Wan looked down, more flustered than he should have been, "I'm honoured."

"It's settled then," Maas said, rubbing more soot on his face, "Now to the important part, what colours and symbols do you want?"

An impulsive part of him wanted to say, the Jetii symbol, just to see Maas's reaction, but that would have killed the mood and have been disastrously stupid.

The beskar had already coated somehow with a matt finish, so despite the almost silver colouring, it wasn't overly reflective.

"Orange?" Obi-Wan asked, feeling vaguely uncomfortable asking for anything more.

"Course!" Maas said excitedly picking up a piece of semi-liquid chalk and motioning for Obi-Wan to outline the shapes he wanted. "I'll follow your indication.

Obi-Wan swallowed, but began tracing his fingers across the sternum and with the sunrise Cody had painted on his, then he traced a band on each thigh that began just below the hip and wrapped downward just above the knee.

Obi-Wan didn't ask for the shoulders or knees to be painted, this, after all, was his armour, not Cody's. And if any symbol went on his arm, it would be the Order's wings or nothing at all.

It took about a half an hour for Maas to paint the armour and for it to set. Obi-Wan listened to Jango speak to Agni about the upgrades to the helmet he wanted in included.

"Done!" Maas exclaimed and Obi-Wan's heart hurt at seeing Cody's sigils. Would the clones even be born? Likely not, that was both a mercy and tragedy. Still, Obi-Wan felt that Cody would have liked to be remembered, and Obi-Wan never wanted to forget them, even if all his memories faded from reach.

Jango helped dress him, which was a bit embarrassing until he realized how many buckles were on these things.

Stars, no wonder they never lost armour.

Despite how heavy it was, the weight of it was comfortable and comforting.

Having grown up being told that Lightsabers could and would cut through anything, like skin, bones, floors, ships, and much more, wearing something that actually protected numerous vitals was… kind of empowering.

Suited up, Obi-Wan did feel less out of place as followed at Jango's side through the massive warehouse.

The room they were brought to was a giant auditorium that had tables set up, where people were enjoying an early second meal.

Obi-Wan noted Jaster Mereel sitting in the back of the room with a number of halos and flimsies set before him.

Obi-Wan really doubted Jango had as much paperwork as the GAR had, but he still respected the Mand'alor better for doing his due diligence.

What he had been trying to impress open Anakin and the Council was that wars began fundamentally with the economy and the politicians.

Mace, Padme, Bail, and Cody were the only people who ever fully understood the points he had been trying to make.

Even Master Yoda hadn't realized how devastating economy changes could inflict rapid changes on the frontlines and the very course of the war.

Regrettably, it was something Count Dooku had certainly mastered.

A slim boy trotted up to them, he left his helmet on the table so Obi-Wan was able to see his face fully.

He was pale with hazel-green eyes and jet black curly hair. He was maybe fifteen or sixteen. He signed, -Welcome! My name is M-I-C-A-H F-E-T-T. Everyone else here is a Mereel or a Keeves, but I liked the Fett name so I took it. Jango is a badass.

Obi-Wan grinned and signed back, -Hello, I'm O-B-I W-A-N K-E-N-O-B-I. Jango is my buir, he saved me after a bombing on Stewjon.

Micah's entire being lit up when he realized how well Obi-Wan understood sign. He had actually learned Mando'a Sign before relearning the spoken language.

-I'm sorry about your home, but I'm glad you've joined Clan M-E-R-E-E-L, hopefully you will be a badass like Jango one day.

Jango snorted at this, then signed at them both, -You two have fun. Before walking of to join Jaster who greeted his own adoptive son by pushing a pile of flimsies over to Jango.

Obi-Wan didn't envy them at all. As he turned back to conversation with Micah, he couldn't help thinking that sometimes it was nice to just be a kid.

Obi'ika was an endless surprise. Jango knew that despite the age difference, Obi-Wan had just made a life long friend with Micah when he didn't ask the other boy to slow down.

Jango turned to make a remark to Jaster, but caught the entrance of an unwelcome person. Bristling at Montross' appearance, Jango glared at his buir and signed, Why?

As in; Why didn't you tell me your di'kut of a second was showing up?

Jaster shook his head minutely.

He hadn't known.

Jango frowned, looking back at the giant of a man who was many years Jango's senior with a repritatution for never taking in a bounty alive.

Jaster had yet to pick a successor to this day, but before Jango came along, Montross had always seen himself as next in the line. He was ruthless and cruel, and Jango had never really been sure of why his buir had chosen this brute as his second. Not until Jango aged and started doing solo missions did he realize how dangerous Montross, not as muscle, but as a stagiest. He was as good at interpersonal politics as he was at killing. Montross had a particular talent of downplaying anyone else's successes and painting himself in a heroic light.

One mission had nailed it home. Jango had returned to his buir's side expecting praise and receiving not a single remark about his successful mission save for an off hand comment about Jango being grateful for Montross's support on the mission.

Except that Montross hadn't helped at all in that mission and had executed his bounty after Jango had the man bound and subdued. It was the wake up call Jango needed that Montross wasn't just brutish and cruel, he was competent and clever.

And right now, the man had removed his helmet, revealing his white-blond hair and scared face as he gave Obi'ika the stink eye for the shiny new suit of beskar.

Obi'ika was deep into a discussion with Micah, Micah who was equally occupied, the normally twitchy young man was enamoured with meeting a new person who could speak in fluid sign.

Jango had his hand on his blaster when Montross's large hand landed on his ad'ika's shoulder.

What happened next left his pulled blaster without a clear target.

Obi-Wan didn't just panic, he went kriffing feral.

Micah pushed himself out of the way, knowing better than to mess with Montross who was seven feet of deadly intent.

A sentiment Obi'ika clearly wasn't aware of as grabbed the Montross had placed on his shoulder, and flipped shoulder.

On one had, holy kark, armoured, Montross was well over three-hundred pounds, but then Obi-Wan was short and Montross was tall enough that leverage was in Obi'ika's favour.

From there though, things escalated, the ade were pulled back and every adult in the room drew a weapon. Jango was running, but it was as if time had slowed, and the few yards he needed to cross were miles away.

Obi'ika thankfully had enough experience to keep Montross from getting a hold of him or from pulling a weapon. He angled Montross's fall so he landed on his arm that held his helmet. It was an amazing show of tactical speed. Nearly all of Montross's weight smashed his arm between the floor and his helmet, the helmet pressing down on the unarmoured inside of his arm.

The crack of bone was audible across the room, Montross grunted, but pain for him had never slowed him before, no, it translated into violence.

He reached for Obi'ika, and if Obi-Wan had tried to run, Monstross's reach would have caught him. But Jango's son was a tooka.

Monstross wasn't exactly used to small ones attacking him, and didn't respond quickly enough as Obi'ika slipped under his arm, taking the broken limb twisting sharply upward.

Monstross did let out a yelp, likely more from surprise than the pain as his face met the floor for a second time in the span of 30 seconds. Obi'ika was unexpectedly vicious as he kept pulling up on the broken arm with one hand and with the other, scooped up Monstross's fallen hamlet and used it to smash into the side of the big man's skull, nailing him in the temple.

Repeatedly.

On near anyone else, it might have been a potentially lethal offense, but it only served to enrage Montross.

Luckily, Jango reached Obi'ika as Montross rose up. Jango had his ad'ika around the waist, rolling with him so that his body blocked Obi'ika mostly out of sight.

He had his blaster pointed as Jaster dove in seconds later, tackling Montross back to the ground, wrestling the weapon from his hand.

Jaster, the better warrior, the better man, had Montross again pinned, this time a blaster pressed to the giant's bleeding temple.

"Montross, concede," Jaster commanded.

Montross lay on the ground, breathing hard, but after a moment, nodded his consent.

It was enough for Jaster.

But not enough for Jango who kept Monstross sighted down his blaster, even as Jaster helped him sit up.

Jango didn't lower his weapon until Jaster had to get on his knees behind Monstross to pop his broken arm back into its socket because Obi'ika had managed to dislocate it.

Stars, who the hell had trained his ad?

Taking off his own helmet, Jango sat up straighter as he tried to get a better look at Obi'ika.

His ad was still panicked, his arms locked around Jango's waist.

"Obi'ika, Obi-Wan ?" Jango tried to get his attention but Obi'ika was staring at Montross as if he would turn into krate dragon and eat them all. " Obi-Wan Kenobi," he tried again.

Obi'ika jerked, releasing Jango and scurrying back from him. Jango didn't try to grab him, he holstered his blaster and held out his hands, palms up, "Obi'ika, you're safe, we won't let anyone hurt you."

"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Montross snarled, "You adopted a runt?"

Jango didn't look back at the man, but he heard the cuff of Jaster's hand against the man's impossibly thick skull.

"That runt managed to take you to the ground," Jaster reprimanded, voice cold. " He also broke and dislocated your arm. You're lucky he merely attempted to test your skull against beskar or he would have blown a hole through your little brain from ear to ear."

Attacking ade was unacceptable, even if Montross hadn't actually attacked Obi-Wan, though had the brawl been allowed to continue, Jango had little illusions that his son might no longer be breathing.

"Obi'ika," Jango coaxed, "it's alright, you're alright."

But Obi'ika was staring at him with eyes the colour durasteel, gazing at Jango as if had betrayed him as he were as afraid of Jango as he had been of Montross.

Jango waited, everyone else did too.

This, THIS, was why they didn't allow their ade to become child soldiers. Obi'ika was only now entering an age where more serious training should have begun. But years of war, from what age, nine? eight? a karking six-year-old!? This, more than anything, told Jango how badly this child had been treated in his life.

"Please," Jango pleaded, voice quiet, "verd'ika, I won't hurt you."

Obi-Wan was going to be sick.

He hadn't expected to be touched by a stranger, and certainly not by one who felt as ugly, or perhaps uglier, than Darth Maul, if not near as Force-powerful in presence.

Still, as tightly as his shields had been closed, having a warning blare that extreme of screamed at him had sent him straight into fight or flight.

Obi-Wan had never been this prone to panic, but he'd never cut himself off even this much from the Force before, oh, and he was also an eleven year old. The hardest thing he had had to deal with at this age in his past life was Bruck getting him in a headlock. In the Temple he had never been around such homicidally inclined people.

How did Force sensitives who weren't raised in the Temple adapt to this, the answer was of course that they sadly didn't. Seekers often checked asylums for Force sensitives. The only real advantage most people had was that strong Force sensitives were not overly common, and among them, most never developed the skill well enough to be a danger to themselves.

Too bad for Obi-Wan he had Master level's awareness with about ten percent of the control he had when he was older.

Which left him panicking in the middle of a fight.

Karking perfect.

Obi-Wan had known the moment that he broke the giant's arm that he would have to end him.

Jango saved him from being forced to pound the man's brains out.

Even pulled out of the fight, Obi-Wan's blood still felt electrified as he tried to replay the fight in his head. Had he used the Force?

Maybe he had when he threw the man over his shoulder, but Obi-Wan's arms ached so badly, even with the adrenaline still pumping through his system he felt it. So likely, he had exceeded his own physical strength. If he had used the Force, tossing a man wouldn't have been all that difficult.

Slightly calmed by this thought, Obi-Wan had been immediately thrown back into a panic when he had heard Jaster address the giant as Montross.

Montross was Death Watch, Obi-Wan was so certain of it that he suddenly wondered if everything he thought he knew about Jango and the True Mandadalorians was a lie.

Before Jango Fett had strangled five Jedi into their graves, there had been Montross.

Mercenary Montross.

A man who made Tor Vizsla look like a humanitarian.

Meeting Master Feemor hadn't made him remember the incident, it hadn't occurred to him the significance of him being a Seeker. In addition to many of his memories fading, it wasn't like he had an exact plotline of events.

Obi-Wan hadn't known Feemor in his old life, not even the name, nor that Qui-Gon had had a Padawan before Xanatos. He hadn't known anything about him because Feemor had been murdered before Obi-Wan had become a Padawan.

It explained more of why Qui-Gon had been so broken when he had first met Obi-Wan, one Padawan fallen and the other…

Obi-Wan hadn't made the connection until he heard Montross's name, until he realized the proximity of the events to their physical location.

Picking up younglings in the Mandalorian system was never safe, not even when they had been welcomed. Jedi were seen as kidnappers, despite the fact that the only children taken against the guardians' wills were in cases of some type of interrable conditions or abuse.

When Obi-Wan had been eleven, the hostile relations between the Jedi and Mandalorians had been rejuvenated by the slaughter of three younglings and a Seeker.

It hadn't been publized because the details had been… graphic. Obi-Wan had never learned the name of the Master who had died in his expedition to bring younglings home to the Temple. The Masters hadn't wanted to terrify anyone. But rumours were hard things to kill.

The stories of the Mandalorian Montross had been painted in blood, a monster who hunted Jedi for sport.

Obi-Wan didn't know why Montross had done it, but the Seeker's unmarked shuttle had it's autopilot initiated to bring it back to Coruscant where the bodies of three children, all under the age of three, and the Seeker had been found in pieces.

The message had been clear, Jetii stay away from the Mandalore system.

Jango had at least killed the Jedi who had killed his people, an act of revenge, not- not bloodsport.

To Obi-Wan's knowledge Montross was the only case of 'kill on sight' the Temple had.

"Obi'ika, you are safe," Jango said again as Obi-Wan stared at him, waiting for some kind of explanation.

But Jango didn't get it, didn't understand the vile intruder that was amongst them. The Force was still telling him they, everyone in this room, were in danger. He didn't need to look at Montross to know the mercenary was at this very moment fantasizing about his death.

Obi-Wan didn't answer the naivety Jango was displaying, and he really hoped it was naivety.

The only positive Obi-Wan could really pick out from this was that Feemor and the youngling they had gone to Stewjon for had died near instancious deaths, and in that equation it had there had only been one youngling, not all three they had set out to retrieve.

Obi-Wan tasted bile in the back of his throat.

This, THIS, was why the Jedi feared, and should fear, the Mandalorians. Most of them were fine but if Montross was a part of this clan... Obi-Wan knew he had made a mistake in trusting these people.

Obi-Wan heard footsteps behind him and twisted to find Agni with a kind smile on his face come to kneel by him, "Hello, ad'ika, what do you think of a nice cup of tea?"

Obi-Wan blinked at him, and he was suddenly able to think past the emotions, he heard the Force push against him like loth-cat looking for attention. On one hand, telling him to be careful of Montross and on the other, telling him to trust the people concerned about him. Like this nice man offering him tea.

No, these people weren't bad.

By the time Obi-Wan had come to Mandalore in another life, the True Mandalorians, this entire clan he was now a part of, had been wiped out. And Jaster Mereel had been dead before his clan had died because Jango had become the Mando'alor in his place by the time of Galdiraan.

The True Mandalorians weren't evil, Montross was merely the snake in the hawk's nest.

Still, even as he took Agni's proffered hand, Obi-Wan knew he could never let these people know he was a Force sensitive.

The Slaughter of the Seeker had been a horror story so nightmarish that Obi-Wan hadn't believed it fully until he met the monster in person.

Montross had killed younglings, torn them apart.

If someone like Montross found out he was a Jedi, he would cease to be seen as human.

Jango Fett would not be so quick to help Obi-Wan then.

If Montross was the snake in the hawk's nest, then Obi-Wan was a misplaced sparrow, if the snake didn't eat him first, one day he would grow up and be seen as the invader he was.

It was a shame too, after Agni and Maas had so newly minted beskar armour for him, Obi-Wan had begun to hope that maybe he could belong here.

He knew better now.

Jango was disturbed, by Obi-Wan's reaction to Montross, more so that his fear of the man seemed to have stretched to the rest of the clan, Jango included. Luckily, Jaster had been almost equally concerned.

"Ade know more about people than we do," was Jango's opening argument when they were finally alone. Jango had made Agni swear not to Obi'ika alone, both Agni and Maas were sticking to him. Though Hallas was probably going to be Obi-Wan's biggest defender, she loathed Montross.

Jaster frowned at him, "Montross is a giant, especially to one so small."

Montross who had just left, saying in his own defense that had simply been peeved about an unknown child wearing a full set of beskar.

Jango was wealthy enough to afford it and Sinna and Micah both had full sets as well, it wasn't strange for Obi-Wan to have a set, not after what he had done for them yesterday, but Monstross was stupid about things like rank.

"Obi'ika fought him before he saw how tall he was."

Jaster tightened his jaw, snapping, "I've known him for longer you've been alive."

"Exactly!" Jango exclaimed, "So you tell me what he will do after a foundling embarrassed him like that in front of half of clan?"

Jaster was quiet for a long time before looking away, "If I preemptively punish him, he will seek vengeance."

Jango felt like pleading, he knew Monstross was his buir's oldest friend but Jaster had a weakness for trusting his friends. "Buir, he's not a man of honour, such a person is not someone we should ever trust."

"We need him," Jaster argued.

"No, Buir, we need you. We need you to lead us. We have never needed Montross who is a pale imitation of the Watch. We don't need the Kyrzes who would ape us after the Republic and we don't the Vizslas who aim to keep us in perpetual civil war, we need you to stop being a coward."

Shock followed by rage filled his buir's face, "How dare you-"

"Ask our women, Buir," Jango interjected, "Ask them what they think of Montross. If you speak with them and afterward you tell me that you still trust him, I'll drop this."

Jaster stared at him, denial in his voice, "Our women are warriors, none of them would allow-"

Jango cut his hand in a silence gesture, "I would have killed him myself if they hadn't." Not a single person in this clan would have allowed such an abuse. "But they tolerate more disrespect than they should because he is your second. Speak to them, see how the ade beyond Obi-Wan think of him, then tell me if Montross is worthy of this clan."

Jasper was silent and Jango took it as a dismissal.

Before he reached the door, Buir said, "If he is unworthy, Jan'ika, we will have to put him down. He isn't someone to make an enemy of."

Jango turned back to him, "After the way he looked at my ad'ika, Buir, he is already my enemy."

AN: Thoughts on the chapter, Tuatara, or feedback? Pretty please?