Death's Choice
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Still don't own
AN: Okay, so this chapter is mild filler, but hey, it happens. Anyway, moving on.
Chapter 17: In Between
Obi-Wan woke to the feeling of being watched. It wasn't malicious by any means, but it always made him uncomfortable to be the object of intense scrutiny. He opened his eyes and turned his head in the direction the feeling was coming from, unwilling to move further as he was otherwise entirely too comfortable. His gaze finally landed on the source. It looked like his Padawan was finally awake.
"Anakin," he couldn't keep the smile off his face. "It's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"
"Alright, I guess," the younger male gave a half-hearted shrug. "I lost my arm."
"I know," the redhead took a shuddering breath, he felt terribly guilty that he hadn't been able to prevent that. "I am sorry."
"It happened," Anakin shook his head. "It could've been worse. At least we made it out alive."
"I suppose you're right," he agreed. "I just… You continue to surprise me, Anakin."
"What?" the blond scoffed quietly. "Did you expect me to get mad and yell about it? It wouldn't change anything. Besides, it's not a very Jedi way to handle things."
"No, it's not a very Jedi way to handle it," he nodded. "But it is a very sentient reaction. And no one would hold it against you if you did."
"I guess," the younger male sighed. "But it's not how I feel. Anyway, Master, what's up with the kid?"
"What?" Obi-Wan was caught off guard by the sudden shift in topic.
"The kid who is practically glued to your side," the other motioned with his remaining hand in the general direction of his chest. "Who are they?"
The redhead gave him an incredulous look before dragging his gaze to the indicated area. There, laying peacefully against his chest, was a head of unruly black hair. He was surprised he hadn't noticed before, especially since he was carding his hand idly through the messy locks.
"This is, uh, Harry," he answered, his voice laced with confusion. "He is a new initiate. Though, I am not sure why or even how he is here."
"Are you looking to get a new Padawan, Master?" Anakin shot him an indecipherable look.
"He's a bit young for that," he shook his head incredulously. "Besides, I would not even consider doing something like that until my current Padawan has been knighted."
"Oh," relief washed over the younger male, both physically and in the Force.
"Anakin," he wasn't sure it would be welcome, but he held out his free arm to his Padawan, as well as sending out a wave of comfort through the Force. "I would never abandon you. Even when you do become a knight, I will always be there for you should you need or want it."
The blond practically launched himself across the room, closing the distance between them. His Padawan buried his face in his chest, right beside the youngling, and began to sob quietly. Obi-Wan let it happen, offering what comfort he could.
After several minutes, as Anakin was starting to calm down, a small hand reached out and began running over the younger male's hair. Blue-gray eyes drifted away from the blond to land on the now awake youngling.
"Why are you sad?" Harry asked quietly. "Are you scared you're going to be decommissioned because of your arm?"
"What do you mean?" Anakin frowned. "I'm not a droid. Decommissioning is for droids."
"Nuh-uh," the youngling shook his head.
"Alright, enough," the redhead interjected. "No one is being decommissioned. I'm not even sure where you would have learned to apply that term to a situation like this, but that is beside the point. Harry, it is quite rude to bring up someone's emotions like that, especially if that person is in obvious distress."
"If it's rude to bring it up," the little raven shot back, "then he shouldn't be throwing them around like that. He's loud and he woke me up."
"Somebody's cranky," the younger Jedi sat up and shot the boy a look.
Obi-Wan heaved a heavy sigh. This was not how he wanted to wake up. He had just opened his mouth to scold them both when the door of the room slid open.
"I apologize, Master Che," a masculine voice floated in from the hallway, "but you don't seem to understand. The Temple has already gone on a silent lockdown. The Temple Guard has been sent out to search the surrounding area. We now have to do our due diligence, and search the Temple, and that includes the Halls of Healing."
"I do understand," the voice of the Chief Healer, Vokara Che, countered. "But I am telling you that I would know if anyone entered the Halls of Healing, especially an untrained youngling. And the only youngling that has been here in the past day is the one that Ali-Alann brought in himself. So, I don't see a reason to disrupt my patients over this matter."
As the voices drew closer, Harry let out a quiet 'eep' of surprise. He curled himself further into Obi-Wan's side, making himself as small as possible, and pulled the cover up over his head. The Knight and Padawan stared incredulously at the rather inconspicuous lump the boy had become, not quite sure what to make of this reaction.
Their attention was diverted, however, as the two newcomers finally entered the room. They stopped in the doorway, their gazes coming to rest on the pair in the room. The Twi'lek healer's eyes narrowed in that dangerous way all healers the galaxy over got when they caught sight of their patients not doing what they'd been told. The redhead hated that look, especially when he knew he was undeserving of it. The male, however, stood frozen in the doorway as if he'd been frozen in carbonite.
"Padawan Skywalker," Master Che bustled further into the room and began herding the blond back to his bed, "as happy as I am to see that you are finally awake, you need to be cleared by a Healer before you get up and start wandering around."
"But I didn't even leave the room," Anakin protested weakly as she began checking him over.
The redhead bit his lip to keep himself from laughing at the teen's disgruntled expression. He quickly turned his attention away only for his gaze to land on the tall blond still standing in the doorway. His expression quickly morphed into confusion at the other's continued presence.
"Was there something we could help you with, Master…" he trailed off, not knowing the man's name.
"Obi-Wan!" the other blurted out.
"That is my name, yes," his brows drew together as he frowned. "But I believe the query was for your name, and your business here."
"You'll have to forgive Master Feemor," the Twi'lek interjected. "He is a bit out of sorts as he seems to have misplaced a youngling during the night and seems to be under the misguided impression that they might be here."
"Ah, I see," the blue-gray gaze shot surreptitiously to his side. "That does seem to be quite the predicament."
"Yes, it is," Master Che agreed. "But it is not our concern. So, Master Feemor will be on his way."
"Actually," Obi-Wan shook his head, "I believe I can provide some assistance with this matter."
"You, Knight Kenobi, have not been cleared from the Halls of Healing either," the healer turned to glare at him.
"I was not suggesting that I leave," he held up a hand placatingly. "Just that I may be able to help."
"Fine," she nearly growled. "I need to take Skywalker to be fitted for his new prosthetic. I'll leave the two of you to talk. Talking only, Kenobi."
With one final glare in his direction, Master Che ushered the younger blond from the room, Feemor finally deigned to move from the doorway so the pair could pass. Obi-Wan watched him shift nervously, though he couldn't fathom why, before he sat down in a chair across from him.
"I do apologize, Obi-Wan," the blond began, taking a deep, calming breath. "I did not mean to disturb you. However, a new initiate was placed in my care yesterday, and he disappeared in the middle of the night. As you can imagine, this is highly unusual and quite distressing. The Council has been made aware of the situation, of course, and they are quite insistent that he be found as soon as possible."
"I understand," he frowned. "But, forgive me, have we met? You seem to be familiar with me, but I have no recollection of you whatsoever."
"Oh, uh, no," the other faltered, "we have not met. Apologies, I have just followed your progress for many years now. Ever since Qui-Gon took you on as his apprentice actually."
"Why?" he was baffled at the revelation.
"Perhaps we could discuss this at another point in time," Feemor shook his head. "Right now, there are more pressing matters to deal with."
"Right," the redhead agreed. "Your missing initiate. You shouldn't blame yourself too much. He, apparently, has a tendency to wander off on those who are supposed to be watching him."
"So it would seem," blue eyes narrowed slightly. "But how would you know that?"
"You are not the first I have heard of misplacing this particular youngling," he sighed.
"Wait, you know this youngling?"
"I was the one who found him," the younger male nodded.
"Do you know where he might have gone?" the other straightened urgently.
"Oh, yes," Obi-Wan chuckled. "And as long as you can keep it from Master Che, I would hate to have to explain to her that she missed something, I can show you."
He flipped the covers down, revealing the boy still at his side. Angry green eyes shot to him as the young face twisted in betrayal.
"You talk too much," Harry pouted, but refused to move. "You'd be horrible at stealth missions. No wonder Ba'buir caught you."
"Harry!" Feemor exclaimed. "What are you doing here? You had everyone worried."
"I wanted to find Mr. Kenobi," the boy buried his face in said man's chest.
"Why would you want to find me?" the redhead frowned, taken aback. "And why would you not tell anyone where you were going?"
"Everyone was sleeping," the little raven shrugged. "I couldn't. I'm not used to sleeping alone. I want my daddy."
"Oh, Harry," Obi-Wan sighed, wrapping his arm more securely around the boy. "I understand, but you cannot just run off like that. I'm sure your buire and ba'buir have told you that before."
"That's not fair," the boy protested. "They're not here. They trusted me to you. I'm supposed to stay with the people they trust to watch over me."
"Harry," the Knight shook his head, "your buire gave you the choice to be here. You chose to follow the path of a Jedi, and that means you have to start at the beginning. You were placed in a clan in the Initiate dorms. Master Feemor is now in charge of your wellbeing and training. You have to listen to him. I am not saying we will not see each other. But you cannot go wandering off on your own, not without telling Master Feemor first."
"Fine," green eyes rolled in annoyance. "I get it."
"Good," the redhead smiled. "Now, you need to go with Master Feemor. I'm sure there are many things the two of you have to do today."
"Alright," the boy huffed. "I'll see you soon, right?"
"I will come see your progress as soon as I am released from the Halls of Healing, I promise," he vowed solemnly.
With that being said, the blond pushed to his feet and extended his hand for the youngling. Harry gave Obi-Wan a final squeeze before scrambling off the bed. He took the proffered hand and together they left the room.
"Since we are already here," Feemor said before the doors closed, "why don't we get your medical exams taken care of. Then we can go get first-meal."
888888
Rex glared at the ceiling of the empty officer's quarters he had commandeered after his talk with Hawk. He couldn't bring himself to be around anyone, especially Kote, not since he found out that practically everyone thought his relationship with the brunet, such as it was, leaned more toward the romantic than anything else. The ramifications of that revelation were enormous, at least personally.
Kote was his best friend. The one person he could count on to be there for him no matter what. But were his feelings more than platonic or that of brotherly affection? Were the CC's?
He was no stranger to sex, most of the older batches weren't. And Trainer Gilamar had insisted on giving them an extensive and comprehensive sexual education, not only for humans or near, but many other types of sentients that populated the galaxy. It was a great way to blow off steam, and something the longnecks didn't seem to concern themselves with. So, a great many of them were sexually active, in one way or another.
He also knew that many among the troops were paired off. They couldn't be anything official, like actually married, but they were exclusive. Kix and Jesse were a prime example of that. But he'd never included him and Kote in that group. They weren't even sexually involved with each other.
Not that he would mind that, or hadn't thought about it, but things just hadn't gone that way between them. God, now he was thinking about having sex with Kote. He hadn't done that in months. Not that he'd had more than his own hand for the past six, since Harry had arrived. He just hadn't been interested in seeking anyone out for a quick fuck. He had only wanted to spend his free time with his son… and Kote.
Oh god, maybe there was something to the rumors after all. He'd just never thought about it before or thought to quantify it before. No, that wasn't true. There was a time when all he'd wanted was the brunet to pick him as the one he wanted. To have the CC care about him as more than just a friend or brother, to look at him the way Kix and Jesse looked at each other, or Waxer looked at his partner. Like he was something more, something special. He wanted the other to touch him, to hold him like he would never let him go, even with the knowledge that they would be going to war and might not make it back. Or maybe in spite of it.
But nothing ever came of that. He'd all but thrown himself at Kote in the past, but the brunet had never responded to any advance he'd ever made. And he thought he had gotten over it years ago. Obviously not though.
Now that he was actually thinking about it, he still wanted that. But he couldn't live without Kote. If the brunet didn't feel the same, he didn't want to ruin what they had. He could and would put aside these feelings just to keep the other as his friend.
It would take some time, especially with everyone thinking they knew anything about any of it, but he would manage. In fact, given the circumstances, no one would blame him for taking some time to himself. He had just given up his son after all. What was one more thing he had to work through?
Ammie: So I'm not overly happy with the end section of this chapter, but I wanted to show what poor Rex was going through. And I will say this, Rex almost single-handedly raised the rating of this fic, and yes there is an innuendo in there. I may or may not write the scene, smut tends to bog me down and make it difficult for me to write, but if I do it will be in a side fic, cause I want the overall rating to stay where it is. Anyway, please let me know what you think, and I'm still taking suggestions for how these two idiots will get together, and also for Kote's death scene.