KEYnote: I wanted to write about Jaster being a good Buir, I also wanted time travel and Cody getting a buir after the Clone Wars. No underage anything! Still the slow, slow burn.
WARNING: Character death and saving others by self-execution due to biochips.
oOo
AN: I have a problem with a time travel addiction, but at least I'm writing.
oOo
Bo-Katan; Age 0, Born 52 BBY.
Satine Kryze; Age 2, Born 54 BBY.
Siri Tachi; Age 5, Born 57 BBY.
Obi-Wan Kenobi; Age 9, Born 61 BBY.
Quinlan Vos; Age 12, Born, 64 BBY.
Jango Fett; Age 13, Born 65 BBY.
Cody/CC-2224; Age 13, Born 32 BBY, in Alternate Universe.
Xanatos; Age 14, Born 66 BBY.
Kit Fisto; Age 15, Born 67 BBY.
Pre Vizsla; Age 16, Born 68 BBY.
Shaak Ti; Age 17, Born 69 BBY.
Depa Billaba; Age 19, Born 71 BBY.
Chapter 5 - Ka'ra Kissed
"How was your first day?" Master Dooku asked over supper that night.
Dooku had food ready when he emerged from the fresher in new robes.
Obi-Wan immediately noticed that Dooku had put more spice in his dish than his own. It wasn't that he wasn't used to people being kind to him, Obi-Wan was only alive today because of his brother's kindness.
Pre had practically raised him, at least in all the ways that mattered.
What surprised him was how thoughtful Master Dooku was.
"It was okay. You were right, I wasn't as far behind as I thought."
"There are of course more Padawans, some even closer to your age," Dooku said. "However, Depa, Shaak Ti, and Kit Fisto, all have Masters who a stationed at the Temple. Vos and Xanatos are currently under partial censor for having difficulties, shall we say, in the field."
"Oh," he said lamely.
"What did you think of him?" Dooku asked.
"Xanatos seemed… confident," Obi-Wan said.
Dooku sighed, "That he is. Qui-Gon thought their last mission went well; the Council disagreed. I am not one to defer to the Council's wisdom in all things, however, if the boy does not improve…" the man sighed. "He will not be Knighted."
"What happens then?"
"He will train with one of the Corps until he finds a career or passion he would be interested in pursuing."
"Oh," Obi-Wan said. "I was reading up on the Corps, I didn't realise how large the Order was."
"The Knights Corps is the elite and public representative of the Order. It is not a perfect system but our… foundlings have been raised here as well as any children any of the Order have who wish to give a chance at entering the Knights Corps. It is a benefit that the Temple is well protected and has the strictest teachings in helping a person refine their Force abilities."
"Do Jedi Knights often have children?" Obi-Wan asked.
Dooku shrugged, "Often is perhaps a matter of perspective. No one born of the Order is knowing left behind though. There are of course those who have children outside the Order. Sometimes those children are wanted by the single parent, sometimes Jedi retire to be with their family, and is often the case with those who wish both to remain in the Order and have their family, transfer to another one of the Corps."
Obi-Wan was surprised by this, "I've never heard a whisper of that being the case in any tale I've heard about the Jedi."
"There are two reasons for that, first and foremost is the nature of becoming a Jedi Knight, it takes a great deal of devotion to mentally and physically train with the Force and then train in diplomacy. It is a nomadic life style, and to one extent or another, the Jedi Knights and Masters you meet are all scholars and/or thrill seekers. While love and intimacy are important to most species and many people, by the time someone has achieved the rank of Knight, they are not typically the people who would give up that way of life to 'settle down' as so to speak."
Obi-Wan bit his lip, but Master Dooku had trusted him with so much, it was time he showed some trust in return, "My clan was like that, but not in a nice way. They see themselves as warriors, emphasis on war. They choose chaos for chaos's sake. I know my brother loved me, but I don't know if my parents ever really loved Pre. He wasn't a son to them, he was their legacy. He was a product they shaped to further themselves and their own ambitions."
Dooku inclined his head, "From what I have been able to discern through research, is that the Watch are marauders. Far more vicious than pirates."
Obi-Wan flinched but agreed, "They work with slavers. Sometimes I wonder why they didn't sell me to the Hutts or Zygerrians. But I think it's because my mom was Stewjoni."
"I know little of Stewjon," Dooku admitted.
"It's a Mandalorian colony, known for their prostitutes. My mom went to great lengths to hide that. If anyone ever found out what I was and connected me to them, they would learn about her and Pre. She would never risk her reputation like that."
Dooku reached out his hand to squeeze Obi-Wan's shoulder, "There is nothing wrong with you, my Padawan. In fact, I find myself in continual admiration that being raised the way you were that you both kept your heart and we're able to discern right from wrong."
Obi-Wan couldn't help to make a face at that, "It's not that hard to realise what my parents were doing was wrong."
Dooku arched a brow, "Was your brother equally moral?"
"My brother never miss treated me," Obi-Wan said, a tad defensive.
"But did he condemn your clan's deeds toward outsiders?"
Obi-Wan felt his lips thin and after a moment, he said, "Not directly, but he's not a bad person."
"No, he's a child. But what the Watch does is dehumanise others. There are other words for it of course but how many non-humans are in their clan?"
"None," he said. "Well aside from my mother and us. Stewjoni isn't completely human but it doesn't show on the surface much."
"And yet Stewjon is a Mandalorian system."
"It's a colony," Obi-Wan corrected. "The only reason they are called Mandalorians at all is so everyone knows who we belong to."
Dooku nodded, "The Jedi don't like to believe so, but history shows us that the beginning of the Republic functioned much as an empire. The Republic expanded through military conquests."
Obi-Wan sighed, "Guess there aren't that many heroes in the galaxy."
Dooku smiled, "No people are wholly good, not even the Jedi. Nor are any people wholly evil." He laid a large hand on Obi-Wan's head, "Not even the Watch."
Obi-Wan grinned back at his Master, so happy that they had found each other.
That night, Obi-Wan dreamed of a golden-eyed warrior with a scar wrapping around his temple, and despite his being a Mandalorian, Obi-Wan was not afraid.
For not every Jedi was good, and not every Mandalorian was bad and the Force itself reached out to him as Obi-Wan reached for the other boy's hand.
oOo
Alternate Universe - 19BBY
oOo
The war was won.
Count Dooku.
Now Grievious.
Defeated.
And his General?
His beautiful and stupid General has ended the war.
Cody hands the man back his lightsaber, the man's life.
All he wants to do is kiss the man.
They had survived.
And all Cody can think of is the night before.
Alone in his General's office, both of them hunched around cups of caf and strategic notes and military reports, but they weren't talking about the war.
No, instead they ended up talk about the past and the future.
"It's funny really, I never thought this part of myself would be valuable. I spent so much of my life wishing away my history, my blood… and yet—" He smiled at Cody, "And yet, I was able to save my people."
"And ours," Cody said.
His General had been honest with Cody from the beginning.
The Jedi had no more freedom in this war than the vode.
They were drafted.
To refuse, for the Jedi, would be an act of treason and they would have been exiled.
The Jedi Order had been too long inside the bounds of the Republic. If they were all expelled to the Outer Rim, they would have been systematically picked off or captured and sold into slavery. The Hutt Empire were too large and the Sith…
It was the same for the vode, though they wouldn't have been sold into slavery, they would have been decommissioned.
Sorrow filled his General's grey-blue eyes and he took Cody's hand, there fingers fitting perfectly together. Both their hands were calloused, and yet, Cody knew he would never wish for anyone's touch but his.
"I wish I could have done more for you and your brothers," his General said.
Cody squeezed his hand, "We can wish whatever we like, but I am grateful for you, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
His General's eyes sparkled and he raised their joint hands and laid a gentle kiss on the back of Cody's hand, setting his heart racing.
His General— Obi-Wan, rests his bearded cheek against Cody's hand as he asked, "You're name, it means glory, doesn't it?"
Cody had to swallow before he could answer, "Yes, the Mando'a is kote, the Prime himself gave it to me. But Rex couldn't pronounce it, he called me Cody, and it felt right. It felt like a name, not just an adjective."
"My name is also Mando'a," Obi-Wan said. "Stewjon is a Mandalorian colony."
Cody blinked, "You're Mandalorian?"
Waxer would have delighted to be right, he had always said that their General was more Mando than Jetii.
His General nodded, rubbing the soft hair of his beard against Cody's hand.
"Yes, my father was Tor Vizsla."
Cody froze, his General let go of his hand, and Cody panicked, "You're nothing like what I've heard of him."
His General shrugged, "My mother was worse. Being Stewjoni, she always felt she had something to prove. She was extreme by the Watch's standards. She shaved her head, tattooed her face, despite the fact that she almost never took off her armour."
"She gave you to the Jedi?" Cody asked, confused because that did not match what his trainers had told them about the Mandalorians, much less the Watch.
The General— Obi-Wan huffed a laugh, "No, she most certainly did not. She tried to kill me when she discovered I was Force sensitive and Master Tholme— the Jedi Master who trained Quinlan Vos, saved me by killing her and taking me away. I would be dead if not for the Jedi."
Cody stared at him, "You were going to be decommissioned by your own buire because you were Star-touched?"
"The Watch is a cult, not a clan. My ori'vod, Pre… he wasn't a monster. Not back then. I am glad Jango killed Tor, although, it is a pity and the True Mandalorians didn't prevail against them."
Cody's mind reeled at this, especially when he realized what Pre Vizsla had done to Obi-Wan's ex-lover, Duchess Satine.
On one hand, Cody wanted to know more about his General's overly complex history with the Mandalorians, but on the other, he didn't want to remind his General of anything too painful.
"What does your name mean? Did you change it after you left the Vizslas?" Cody asked instead.
The General's smile was self-deprecating, "No, my buire named me Obi-Wan Kenobi, in ancient Mando'a it is a name given to the dead who have no one to identify their corpse and to children who don't make it to their fifth year. It translates roughly to; No One from Nowhere of No Clan."
Cody's jaw dropped, "Why?"
"I was born early, and I am told quite small. It is a miracle I survived infancy, and compared to my ori'vod, I was found wanting, so they never gave me a true name."
"Why keep it at all?" Cody asked.
Obi-Wan's smile grew a bit more fierce, his gaze a bit sharper, "Because, unlike my mother, I am not ashamed to be Stewjoni. And I would rather be No One than Clan Vizsla. I kept my name because despite every odd set against me, despite being marked for death, I survived. Anyone who knows what my name means, knows that it is because of the Jedi I live, and that I choose the Order over them."
Cody knew that feeling all to well. But a selfish part of him had to ask, "You'll always be a Jedi then?"
Obi-Wan took in a breath, before squaring his shoulders, meeting Cody's gaze directly. His were certain, as if he meant them, though not sure of their welcome; "You have followed me faithfully for these three years, Marshal Commander Cody. And you are the truest partner I've ever had, familiar or otherwise. If you would allow me, I would be honoured if you would let me follow you for whatever is to come."
Cody's throat closed up, as he stared at this man who had become the centre of his world, offering up everything he was.
He was a High General, a Master Jedi, a Councillor on the Jedi High Council, and the most revered officer in the GAR.
And he was willing to leave it all.
For Cody.
Obi-Wan reached forward to wipe away the tears that had escaped and whispered, "My dearest Cody."
And like the absolute di'kut he was Cody said, "After the war."
When what he meant was I love you.
But Obi-Wan smiled as if Cody had just offered him every star in the galaxy, and repeated, "After the war."
And radiating with relief and hope, the next day brought with it the sight of the end.
Obi-Wan defeated Grievous with his typical lack of self-preservation.
But he was alive, they both were, and soon they would be free.
Cody was hardly paying attention when he answered his com, surprised to see the Chancellor himself appearing into view.
And in a few simple words, the Chancellor stripped him of his humanity.
Took all that he was, every bloody inch he had carved out for himself and locked it away.
He had never been Cody or the Prime's Kote. He had never been Rex's Ori'vod, never been his General's dear one.
He had never been anyone.
Because he wasn't, in the end, a person or a clone.
He was a thing.
A fleshy clanker.
He was CC-2224.
Leaving all that he wasn't to watch on in horror as his mind and body were stolen from him.
Good soldiers follow orders.
CC-2224 signals to his men and points to the General.
The Jetii.
The Traitor.
CC-2224 gives the order to kill, leaving Cody screaming in his new prison as they watch their General fall to his death.
CC-2224's job is complete.
CC-2224 does not acknowledge that the vode who shot the killing blow had been named Hopeless.
Hopeless for being a hopeless shot.
CC-2224 does not go looking for the corpse of the Jetii who fell.
CC-2224 knows only that his men followed his orders, Hopeless is not an individual, he is a Good Soldier and that falling from such a great height is terminal.
But Cody knows that his General was not struck directly and that gravity has rarely posed any sort of threat to his General before.
Cody doesn't point this out to CC-2224, and as the days turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into months, Cody gives up hope.
His brothers will never be free.
Kamino and his vod'ike come to destruction much the same way as the Jedi Temple was.
Storm Troopers replace Clone Troopers.
CC-2224 does as he is told as the Separatist movement is quelled overnight and the Sith overturn the Republic into an Empire.
This is after the war.
And Cody knows his General is not coming to save him.
He knows that no one is going to save him.
And he isn't strong enough to save anyone else.
CC-2224 is a Good Soldier.
CC-2224 is a Good Soldier, but Cody…
Cody, in his heart of hearts, is a Rebel.
A few months pass when Rex comes looking for him.
But he's not alone, Commander Tano is with him.
CC-2224 is a Good Soldier.
But Cody knows that Commander Tano was supposed to be his General's Padawan, his ad'ika. Cody knows too that Rex loves her more than anyone else in the galaxy.
Cody knows CC-2224 will over power Rex'ika and kill Commander Tano.
And determination like magma enters Cody's veins.
CC-2224 turns his back on the younger clone.
Cody tells CC-2224 they are going to file a report, a Jetii sighting, a Rebel sighting, Cody tells it to CC-2224 over and over again, forcing their feet to walk.
But Rex, his foolish vod'ika follows after him.
CC-2224 pulls his weapon and flicks off the safety.
What is left of Cody's heart breaks, as he turns and his weapon is raised to his vod'ika who Cody knows has escaped somehow.
Cody knows that Rex is not a slave, not a flesh clanker.
CC-2224 knows only that Commander Rex is a listed Rebel.
Neither Rex nor Cody will be fast enough to stop this.
Cody refuses to kill his vod'ika, this is one crime he will not commit.
Cody tells CC-2224 that he is a Bad Soldier.
Cody tells CC-2224 that CC-2224 is a traitor.
CC-2224 who wears only military greys, points his weapon.
Cody commands CC-2224 to OBEY DECOMMISSION.
CC-2224 is not afraid as he accepts this directive and presses the barrel of his blaster to his own temple.
As CC-2224 surrenders to their fate, Cody rests enough control back to breathe.
To tell Rex, "Forgive me, vod'ika."
Rex's face contorts in horror as Cody relieves himself of duty.
There is nothing glorious about his death, but he is freed as the stars embrace him and he reaches for his General.
Reaches for the warmth and light of him that he sometimes imagined he could sense.
But that light is not in the force that embraces him, unreachable in the currents of light that eddy around him.
This too is a relief, but only for a moment.
It is no mercy to survive this war.
Cody knew his General, knew Obi-Wan blame himself for everything that had happened.
There was no winning, not in life, not in death.
Not for them.
Despair engulfing him, some great thing wrapped around Cody's being and asked in a voice that was no voice at all, and yet every voice.
His vode's voices and the voices of every Jedi he had ever met and had breathed and died long before Cody had been decanted, asked, What is it you wish, dearest one?
Cody was dead, and yet he still felt as if he could drown in sorrow as he answered, I wish we had a chance, I wish we weren't doomed from the start.
There is no galaxy without sorrow, the Force replied, for what else could this be but the Force.
Cody would have bared his teeth if he still had any, I want a fighting chance.
Even if you are alone? Even if your vode are reborn as others you may never recognise or know? Would you take the pain of one reality into another and live with both burdens?
Cody could only ask in turn, Would Obi-Wan need me still?
The Force, the Ka'ra, embraced him and whispered, More than ever.
Cody went willingly into the next life unaware of who he would replace and unprepared for the galaxy that was quite unlike his own.
oOo
Jaster Mereel was beside himself with worry.
His son, who he had adopted only a few months ago, who was only thirteen had been gravely injured in the Watch's latest raid.
Tor Vizsla had been volatile in his grief and rage at the loss of his Riduur.
Though Jaster's clan had been victorious. Vizsla's people severely decreased, however, the True Mandalorians were not without their losses.
Jaster wasn't willing to concede to his medic's wisdom that Jango wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.
His heart had stopped, his brain activity was minimal and there was nothing more the bacta could do.
His ad'ika looked so young in the hospital bed. The breathing tubes, IVs, and bandages making it impossible for Jaster to merely pretend his charge was sleeping.
It had already been a few weeks, and he knew his advisors were ready for him to let go as the medics had instructed.
Jango's body might still be breathing, but the spark that made him him had blown out.
Nevertheless, Jaster stayed vigile over his son's deathbed. He taken over the duty of changing his bandages himself. If Jango ever did wake up, he was going to have quite the scar on his temple. The scar was distinctive, a circle over his brow and a jagged line that curved under his eye along the line of his cheek bone.
Jaster was cursing his every decision as Mand'alor and buir when Jango took in a gasping breath, his unbandaged eye going wide.
Jaster had a split second to hit the call button before he found himself attempting to restrain Jango as the boy ripped away the IVs and tubes away from himself.
Jaster had been training Jango, and his ad'ika had been steadily earning his armour, but Jaster was not at all prepared for the fury his ad unleashed on him.
Jaster went from trying to restrain him to lifting his arms in defence as Jango rained blows down on him.
If the boy had been a full-sized warrior, Jaster would have been in trouble.
As it was, Jaster couldn't retaliate without fear of further injuring his adiik.
Their medic, Mij and Jaster's friend, Silas came in and immediately tried to restrain Jango.
With amazing flexibility and skills that Jaster knew his adiik did not have, grabbed hold of Silas's reaching arm, yanked him forward, before wrapping his legs up round Silas's neck.
With a twist of his body, Jaster grunted as Silas's fully armoured self was brought down full force into Jaster's middle.
If it wasn't for his own armour, that move might have crushed his chest.
Quick as a whip, Jango sprang up and in an almost dancelike movement pulled Mij's weapon off him and had it pointed back at him.
"Drop the syringe," Jango ordered Mij with deathly calm.
It was, but it wasn't Jango's voice, not as he had ever heard it before.
Jango was full of anger and vengeance at what had happened to him and his birth family.
There was no anger in Jango's voice now, just calm certainty.
No fear.
No anger.
Jaster laid on the floor with Silas unwilling to move.
Mij, who was still holding the syringe, raised his hands, "I'm a medic—"
Jango switched the stun mode on Mij's blaster to regular energy bolts and ordered, "Drop the syringe."
Mij dropped the syringe, hands splayed in surrender.
Mij wasn't wearing his helmet, and Jango's aim was steady on that vulnerability.
"If he's your friend, I suggest you crawl toward the wall. Reach for a weapon, I shoot, move too fast, I shoot," Jango told them, still in that calm commanding voice.
"Ad'ika," Jaster said softly.
"Move," Jango commanded.
Silas slowly moved off Jaster, still hugging the floor as he scooted back.
Jaster kept both hands on the floor and slowly sat up.
"Jango," Mij tried to speak, "Please, we're clan—"
"My clan is dead," Jango said without inflection.
"Do you know where you are?" Mij asked.
"A medbay," Jango said dryly.
Mij winced, "We only want to help you, you were hurt."
Jango smirked, "That tends to happen when you put a blaster to one's head and pull the trigger."
Jaster's breath caught in his throat. Belatedly, he realized he had made a wounded sound when Jango fleshed him an odd look.
It wasn't Jango who looked at him, his brown eye had too much gold in and Jaster began to worry the Ka'ra had reached down her hand and touched his adiik.
It was known to happen in legends, in times of great strife children were born star-touched and those on the brink of death were kissed by the stars.
Sometimes, the star-touched were driven mad.
Sometimes, they took their own lives.
And sometimes, they woke up other than they had been.
Ka'ra, please, Jaster begged silently, admitting to himself that maybe Mij had been right, Jango had passed on.
Whoever looked down at him now was someone else.
But he was still hurting, still in need of Jaster. If the Ka'ra had touched his ad'ika, then the stars had called upon Jaster as much as they did to Jango.
"What's your name, ner ad'ika?" Jaster asked.
The adiik kept his weapon aimed in an unwavering stance as he met Jaster's gaze, "Cody."
Kote.
Jaster sucked in another harsh breath, "Cody, ner ad, please, we mean you no harm."
Cody arched a brow at him, "Why should I trust you?"
"Because he's the Mand'alor, di'kut," Silas snapped.
Which was the wrong thing to say, because Cody immediately took a step back, and changed his aim to Jaster, who also wasn't wearing his helmet.
Kriff.
"Where's the Dark Saber, Death monger?"
Jaster paled, "Haat'mando'ade, ner adiik. I am a True Mandalorian, my name is Jaster Mereel, Cody."
Cody blinked at him, there was a long silence and Jaster let him think, letting him orienate himself and proving that they weren't going to jump him. Mij and Silas followed his lead, thankfully.
"Prove it," Cody said finally.
"How?" Jaster asked.
Cody lips twitched, "Recite the Codex."
Jaster almost smiled.
Silas groaned, "Please don't ask him to outline the Resol'nare, adiik, I'm begging you.
"Shut up," Jaster snapped and recited the main part of their Code, "Strength is life, for the strong have the right to rule. Honor is life, for with no honor one may as well be dead. Loyalty is life, for without one's clan one has no purpose. Death is life, one should die as they have lived."
Something like mirth crossed Cody's expression and it was too much like Jango's express of mischief that Jaster just knew that he wasn't going to like whatever the adiik said next.
"Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Ka'ra," Cody recited back at him.
It was not the same, not at all, to Jaster's Codex which he had baced of the old Canons of Honor.
But there were similarities.
"What is that from?" Mij asked.
"It's the Jetii Code," Cody said, smugly.
Silas cursed under his breath
Jaster grimaced, he didn't hate the Jetiiese, but he was wary of them and historically speaking, the Jetiiese caused problems for the Mandalorians.
However, Jaster taught his clan and anyone who would listen to avoid them like the plague.
The Watch still did Jetii huntings, among them, to kill a Jetii could advance their status or count as their coming of age event.
This was sucidal, especially if one hunted the Padawans, the Jetii ade, because not only would the Master come down on you like hellfire, but the normally solitary nomadic warriors would close ranks and preform raids like they did in times long past.
The Watch doing this put all Mandalorians at risk.
Mij sighed, "So you are Ka'ra kissed."
Cody tilted his head again and lowered the weapon but didn't give it back to Mij, "I've never heard of being star-kissed. I'm not really a Force sensitive."
Jaster sighed, "Force sensitives, like the Jetiiese, are Ka'ra touched. To be star-kissed is to be reborn by fate. You don't know who we are. You don't remember us at all, do you, ner adiik?"
"No," Cody answered.
"And you are not Jango Fett," Silas stated.
"No," Cody said with palpable bitterness. "I am not Jango Fett, my name is Cody."
"Cody," Mij said ith deceptive lightness. "You need to get back in bed."
"I would sooner bleed out my ears," Cody responded.
Mij dropped the bedside manner and glared at the child, "How old do you think you are, adiik?"
"Thirteen," Cody said readily. "But—"
"No," Mij cut him off. "Get the kriff back in bed, I don't care if you're a Vizsla—"
"Vizsla?" Cody interrupted, showing the first glimpse of uncertainty. "Do you know Obi-Wan?"
"Obi-Wan?" Mij repeated, exchanging a look with Jaster.
Jaster hadn't heard that name in a long while.
"Do you mean Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Mij asked.
"Yes," Cody said, his face softening with emotion. "You know him? Can I see him—"
But Mij was already shaking his head, "It's a title not a name, adiik. The only Obi-Wan Kenobi, No One of Nowhere, I know are carved into tombstones, ancient ones at that."
Cody deflated, looking his age for the first time since waking as he curled in on himself, "But she promised."
Jaster rose to his feet, "Who promised you what?"
Cody looked up at him with that golden brown gaze that Jaster knew was going to break his heart if he ever tried the tooka eyes. His new child's voice was soft as he said, "The Ka'ra, it promised he would still need me."
Jaster gently took the blaster from his hand and passed it behind him as he placed his other hand on Cody's shoulder, "Ner ad'ika, you are needed here, and if there is an Obi-Wan Kenobi who needs you too, the Ka'ra will bring you together."
Cody nodded, and allowed himself to be shepherded back to bed.
Mij began reattaching monitors and IVs, the latter of which Cody protested.
To which Mij placed one of his knives down on Cody's lap, "Either kill me, adiik, or let me do my job."
Cody pouted, but allowed the medic to do his job as he slipped the gifted weapon beneath his pillow.
Cody was not Jango, but by all the stars, he was still Jaster's son.
oOo
AN: Thoughts, megalodons, or feedback on the story, pretty please?