(don't know if it needs it but warning for smoking. bc that's my Cody headcanon)
It's a trap. Cody realizes he should expect that by now. The Separatists have no concept of honor, and they speak deceit better than basic. Ghost company is severely outnumbered and outgunned. To make matters worse, Ventress joins the battle. She comes in from the northwest, cutting through troopers like a knife through butter. Kenobi rushes to engage her. Cody moves to follow but a wall of droids intercepts him and his platoon. By the time they finish with that, Kenobi is nowhere in sight. More droids flood down the main road, distracting him. It's not long after that the Separatist forces abruptly fall back. They suddenly turn around, get back in their ships, and fly away.
The men are relieved, cheering and laughing. Cody can't join in. There's a sick feeling in his stomach and it only grows as night falls and Kenobi has yet to reappear. He tries multiple times to com him, and each attempt is met with silence. When General Skywalker contacts him, reporting the same lack of communication, his fears are confirmed. The final pieces click into place. That's what it was all about - the trap, Ventress, the droids leaving. They got what they came for.
He spends the rest of the night and the early morning hours contacting every ship and outpost within the sector, hoping someone has news, perhaps saw the Separatist fleet leaving, knows where they were headed. No luck. No one's seen anything. No one knows where they are, where they took Kenobi. Cody's still at the holotable when Skywalker and Rex arrive.
Skywalker is livid, Ahsoka seems panicked, and Rex looks as grim as Cody's ever seen him. Cody doesn't know exactly how it works but somehow the Jedi can sense one another, even when separated by great distances, so Skywalker felt Kenobi was in danger. Still is, if his anger is anything to judge by. He's ready to tear the entire galaxy apart to recover his former master. Cody shares the sentiment.
"Here." Rex holds out a mug.
Cody regards it suspiciously.
"Thought you could use some caf," Rex explains.
He accepts it then, taking a swallow and grimacing. He's more accustomed to tea. "For a moment, I was worried you were going to tell me to get some rest."
Rex smiles wryly. "I know better than that by now. Besides, if it was my Jedi, I know how I'd respond. I'd move mountains to get him back."
/\
The communications officers have never been busier. Messages fly back and forth from one side of the galaxy to the other, getting the word out, putting everyone on alert, gathering tips. They chase down every possible lead, every dead end. It's frustrating and Cody lives off caf and stubbornness. He can't eat, can't sleep. Refuses to until, for better or worse, they find out what happened to Kenobi.
One day, it just stops. The flurry of activity, the rush, the hope. A communique comes through on his datapad and he stares at it. Just stares and stares. Lights a cigarra, takes a drag, and stares.
Rex comes into his room, sees his defeated posture, the cig. "What's happened?"
"See for yourself." Cody slides the pad across his desk.
After scanning it, Rex's eyes widen. "He's calling off the search? He can't do that!"
Cody shrugs. "He's the Chancellor. He can do whatever the heck he pleases."
Rex drops down to sit on the edge of his bunk. Cody passes him the cig.
"Should you really have that in here?"
"I can do whatever the heck I please."
Rex accepts the cigarra. Takes a few puffs and hands it back. "Skywalker's not going to quit."
"Must be nice to have that option," Cody grunts.
"You're giving up?"
"I have my orders. Apparently war doesn't stop."
/\
It's not like Cody hasn't led his men without General Kenobi before. They're all experienced troopers, not cadets in the Youth Brigade, for Force's sake. And sometimes Kenobi is assigned to separate missions. But this time is different. There's an underlying current of uneasiness thrumming though the air. It's setting the men on edge. Cody can't fault them for that. He feels the same. His worry is distracting and he does his best to shove it down. Distractions are what get you killed.
There's talk of reassigning Ghost Company. Rumors of disbanding and redistributing the men. Or to make things easier, a new general will be appointed. One of those career types, straight from the Core. Given how stretched the Jedi numbers are, that is the most likely scenario. Yet somehow, nothing comes of the speculations. Cody later learns that Skywalker has more than a little to do with that.
Rex keeps Cody informed of the ongoing search, unofficial and clandestine as it is. Skywalker is an expert at hiding his true intentions from those in authority. Cody doesn't know how he manages to fulfill his duties and still find time to sneak off to explore every dark crevice in the corners of the galaxy, based off whispers from sources he won't disclose.
Then Rex goes off the grid. Radio silent. The next time Cody sees him, he's haggard and haunted, stumbling off Skywalker's ship and onto the landing platform. Cody takes his arm over his shoulder and hightails it to 79's. Not his usual spot but the 501st is no stranger to the bar and Rex looks like he could use a drink. Or two. Three. Four.
Once the alcohol loosens his tongue enough, he tells a tale, in scattered fragments, of changelings and lies, false hope and death. Cody doesn't pry beyond that.
Duty calls and Cody's back in the field. Without Kenobi's skills as negotiator, a number of planets are reneging original treaties, falling away from promised trade agreements, ect. It's strange to see the worth of a man in the hollow spaces he leaves behind. Maybe Cody is biased, but he thinks Dooku picked the perfect target as far as weakening the Republic goes. Kenobi is a prominent figure in the war, both politically and militarily.
/\
Skywalker contacts him directly. He found Kenobi.
Ghost Company has never been more motivated to finish a battle. They defeat their enemy in record time and Cody entrusts the clean up to his officers. He's hopping a shuttle to Skywalker's location. Spends the entire ride battling nerves. The anticipation overlaps old guilt, blending into a nauseating mixture of relief and fear. Then the shuttle lands and the ramp's opening and he's walking down and there's Kenobi.
To his last breath, Cody will deny that he ran. But he run he does, over to Kenobi only to stop short. There's something...different about him. He certainly looks like Kenobi, if thinner and strangely lost. But he's not - Cody can't quite put his finger on it, doesn't know how to put it into words - he's not Kenobi. Like those clones who fell victim to the mind controlling worm of the Genosian queen, there's something missing from his eyes. A blankness where there should be light.
Cody manages a stiff salute and inclines his head when the other man finally notices him. There's no recognition in his gaze, his talk alternates between polite and bewildered. Cody doesn't stay long. It's too disconcerting. He makes his excuses and leaves. Though he's loathe to admit it, he supposes he pictured the reunion going differently. More happiness, less confusion.
/\
Despite Cody's quiet protests, Skywalker dispatches them to the field. Something easy and routine, he promises. Just hold back the invading forces. In the glow of the holo of the planet they're gathered around, Kenobi seems more ghost than human. But Cody has to give him credit for not backing down. He wanders around the camp, jittery, trying not to show it and failing. When it comes time to fight, he takes his place by Cody. Close enough for Cody to see the tremble in his hands, the sweat on his forehead.
They make it through. By some miracle, Kenobi makes it through alive. Cody had his doubts. Still does, but about other things. It's probably baseless. After all, Kenobi's been through an ordeal. And things like that, well they change a man. But something in Cody's gut just won't uncurl. It's hard to look into those missing-light eyes. It's hard to watch the unflappable leader shake in fear. It's hard and it's a war between guilt and doubt (which feels like treason) and in the end, he falls back on his training. Focuses on the war. Keeps the general at a distance.
It helps that they're so busy. Mission after mission after mission. War is an incredible substitute for self-reflection. Cody doesn't have to examine his thoughts too closely. Doesn't need to inspect them. Just distracts himself with battle. Battle he can do.
/\
"Glad to have him back?" Rex nudges his shoulder.
Cody grunts, noncommittal.
"What?"
"It's nothing."
"Cody."
"Do you ever get the feeling something's not right with General Kenobi?"
"What do you mean?"
"Never mind. Forget I brought it up."
/\
The general is trying. Maybe too hard. He comes across as a bizarre puppet, a poor substitute of his former self. He shapes himself into what people want from him, what they expect. An ever changing, fluid approximation of his reputation. He's conversing with Ohnaka, the 212th having stopped on Florrum to resupply, and he laughs at something the pirate says. Watching from across the landing strip, unlit cig waiting in his fingers, Cody wonders if, maybe, it wouldn't have been better if Kenobi had stayed missing.
He should be more careful what he wishes for. It's not long before Kenobi goes missing again. This time, there is no extended chase, wondering where he is, what's happened. This time a demon sends a message to Skywalker. He rants and raves about revenge, about the coming fall of the Republic. Cody doesn't hear any of it. His entire focus is captured by the flickering image of Kenobi's battered body in the background. This time, Cody's going to be there to get his general back.
Kenobi's in a bad way. There's blood and bruises and breaks. Skywalker wants to pursue Maul. Ahsoka is the only one who can talk him out of it. If Kenobi doesn't receive immediate medical attention, he will die. Cody and Rex carry Kenobi's unconscious body back to the ship. Skywalker's jaw is clenched as he pilots. Ahsoka chased them out of the little medical room. That leaves Cody and Rex in the cargo space, silent and grim.
/\
The aftermath is horrible in ways no one could predict. Kenobi is coming apart, unraveling, tumbling into a thousand pieces and Cody scrambles to catch them all. But he's decided, determined. He failed his Jedi before. He won't do so again. He's going to stay by his side. Through the nightmares, the vomiting, the seemingly endless bacta application. And the times when Kenobi seems to turn inward and doesn't come back until there are tear stains on his cheeks.
Cody stays.
/\
"Have you slept at all?" Rex asks.
Cody exhales smoke. Flicks the end of his cig over the balcony edge. "Some."
"You're lying."
Bracing his forearms on the railing, Cody lays his forehead against them. "Truth is, I'm always tired, brother."
/\
It takes a while. A lot of time, an extended stay in the Jedi Halls of Healing, a few doses of the strongest medication available, and Kenobi's back to fighting fit. He's changed. Again. He's different. Not back to how he used to be but different than he was and Cody can still see the blankness but this time, Kenobi's more settled, resigned, muting the void instead of seeking to fill it. It's a subtle change but it reassures Cody, gives him hope that maybe things will be okay.
They're on the bridge, standing at the viewport, waiting to make the jump to hyperspace. Kenobi has scars now, some on his face to match Cody's. He turns to the commander and Cody doesn't flinch.
"On your command, General Kenobi."