AN: The last three chapters took place in three, so Anakin will have an update in the next chapter when more time has passed. This story is very hard to write because I have too much hitting me all at once that needs to be expanded upon.

Chapter 8 - Machinations

Jango sighed, looking toward Obi-Wan who was showing Boba a knife trick that he was certain someone from his birth family had to have shown him. After all, how many Jetiiese taught their foundlings knife tricks?

It was an unwanted reminder of the insanity of what he was about to do.

But he couldn't talk business with the Sith in front of Boba. Boba shouldn't have been here at all but of course if Obi-Wan had picked anywhere else, Jango could have doubled back to Kamino.

But alas, his option was the man who he had karked the night before or a Sith Lord plotting to take down the Republic.

"Obi-Wan," he began reluctantly. "Would you be able to mind Boba for me while I meet with the Count?"

"Of course," Obi-Wan answered without hesitation.

Jango nodded, "Thank you."

Boba gave him an unhappy look that had nothing to do with Jango leaving him with the other man, and more about the lack of promise to keep the other man.

"Be good, Bo'ika," he told the child.

Boba turned his head away, pointedly ignoring him.

Jango sighed, leaving with the sense that Obi-Wan give his life for Boba.

His instincts were rarely wrong, he just didn't understand Obi-Wan. The sense that he already knew them —knew Boba— was unsettling.

Jango sighed again, finding his way to the Count's office and trying to clear his mind as he walked.

He failed at the latter.

Dooku looked up at Jango as he entered the room with appraising eyes.

He didn't speak.

Jango's patience was on a short cord today, "What? You were the one who called me here."

"You slept with my grandson."

Jango was very glad his helmet was on. Had the Sith been spying on them or was this some Jetii osik?

"I didn't think you would care if a Jedi broke their vows."

Dooku smirked.

Jango swore internally, realizing he had just confirmed the Count's statement.

Dooku voice was amused as he said, "The Jedi may be a religious order, but they are Knights, not monks. There are no prohibitions against consenting explorations."

Jango flinched and cursed himself again, knowing the Sith was taking bites trying to see where his weak points were.

Jango hadn't thought the Count would care.

The whole behind taking the Jetii to bed was supposed to be a way to pull Obi-Wan into his influences. Why the hell were the Count and Boba making this difficult? It didn't need to be quite this complicated.

"Is there a point to this conversation?"

"Obi-Wan is leaving the Order," Dooku said, interlacing his fingers together as he sat back in his seat.

Jango's brows shot up, "He told you this? He's joining you?"

That two-faced son of a—

"No. I assumed since you were together that you were his Mand'alor."

Jango had two disparent reactions to that, on one hand, he wanted to bolt at the way the count had his Mand'alor sounded like his Riduur.

On the other hand, a possessive part of him that had been missing having a clan craved it.

But Jango knew better than to confuse fantasy with reality.

"I have not taken Obi-Wan into my clan."

"So you're using him, to spite me, the Vizslas, and the Order."

Jango hated this man, "What's it to you?"

"He is my grandson."

Jango scowled, not buying it. "What does that matter? Tell me, Count, that your first thought upon seeing him wasn't to kill him, at the mere possibility that he knows about your plot. Tell me that and you can continue to give me the third degree, otherwise, it's none of your business."

"It is my business, your clones are mine and Obi-Wan is of my lineage."

"Why would you claim him as kin? "

"I told you, he is leaving the Order, either because he has joined with you or because he will join with me. What did you tell him of Kamino?"

"Nothing."

"Good."

"You will just take my word for it?"

"You're not trying to lie and I can feel it in the Force that you are speaking truthfully."

Jetii osik.

"Why would he join you?" Jango asked.

"Because, he is a Mandalorian," Dooku answered. "He desires belonging. The Duchess did not claim him when he gave her the chance, neither will his brother, Pre, and it would seem, you too have denied him. I am not so foolish as to turn down such a bounty. Obi-Wan Kenobi is not a warrior lightly set aside."

Jango hadn't realized when Obi-Wan said he helped the Duchess, he had been that close to her.

But then he was truly a man torn between two worlds. Even Tarre Vizsla had turned his back on the Jedi Order in the end.

"He has his Order. Why do you think he will leave the Order?"

Dooku smirked, "Because he sees their self-destruction as I have. He has stopped asking for permission and there is only so far the Order can allow its members to wonder before they let them go."

"Fools, they would have to be fools to let him go," he said without thinking.

Jango came to regret those words.

Dooku looked at him as if he were a child who had just been gifted a bowl of ice cream, "And you are a fool, Jango Fett, not to claim him."

Jango stiffened.

Seriously? How in the hells did Dooku end up on the same page as Boba?

"You seem confused," Dooku said lightly.

"Kark you."

"I am not of the same persuasion as my grandson though I thank you for the offer."

Jango's hands twitched, if the Count were anyone else, he would have shot him dead.

"Why do you want me to claim him? Weren't you just giving me the shovel talk?"

"He could help you win back Mandalore."

"Who says I want to back Mandalore?"

"Because you are the Mand'alor."

Jango was beginning to think this was a conspiracy, "I am not."

"You are, The Duchy know it, the Prime Minister knows it, as does that whelp clinging to the Dark Saber know it. Only you seem to not understand that."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Perhaps I believe by telling you to do something is the most probable way to achieve the opposite results."

At this point, Jango was convinced he was just karking with him.

"Why did you call me here originally?"

"You will continue to train the senior troopers," Dooku said, all business now.

Finally.

"You mean children who aren't old enough to attend school on Alderaan?" Jango quipped. "Yes, I will continue training them."

"You agreed to this," Dooku reminded him.

"You know I didn't agree to all of this."

Dooku smiled at him, "You have your son, and you will have your revenge, is that not enough?"

Jango bit his tongue, regret and shame filling him. There were two thousand little lives waiting for him on Kamino. All of them foundlings whom Jango failed a little more each day.

"I have a proposal for you," Dooku continued.

"A new one?"

"Indeed. There is a war coming."

"I know, you're engineering it."

Dooku shook his head, "War approaches Mandalore, and your clones will not be ready."

"They were not born for fighting against or for Mandalore."

Dooku stood, "No, but Obi-Wan was born for it."

"I have not—"

"I know what you have not done, but this is a question about what you will do. The Outer Rim has been choked on all sides and they rely greatly on the exportation of goods. Everything goes through Mandalore."

"I know. The Duchess sells everything, it's only fortunate the greatest stores of Beskar are the moons she annexed."

"She was wise to base their currency on the metal, it keeps the resource on Mandalorian soil and out of the hands of the banking clans."

Jango made a harsh sound, "Great, the symbol of our people is rotting in a glass palace."

"Say what you will about her, she has brought great prosperity to Mandalore and a way for people who do not desire or are not capable of waging war to have a future outside of that."

"And you think that is worth losing everything we were, everything we had?"

Dooku stood, walking to his desk and hitting some panel, "It is important for you to understand why the New Mandalorians will fight you now that they've seen success through their way. The Jedi would fight against Death Watch, but I do not know what they will do against the True Mandalorians. I don't know what they will do if and when Obi-Wan joins you."

Jango laughed, "You think one Jetii could change the actions of the entire Order? That their minds could be changed so easily? You couldn't."

"No, but I was beloved by no one save my friend and my Master. The whole of the Order grieves Obi-Wan."

"Grieves him?" Jango repeated at the odd phrasing. The man was dead and he hadn't thought Obi-Wan had officially left the Order.

"He is the Light of the Order," Dooku said. "As he is the true heir to the Vizsla. You must choose between your revenge and a future for your people."

Jango was sick of dreams he had long abandoned being shoved in his face as if it were inevitable rather than a pipe dream. So he asked the important question, "And my clones?"

Dooku shrugged, "I have no use for children. Depending on how far this war spreads, my plans will be changed."

"Meaning you won't destroy the Jedi?"

"The Separatist movement is more important to me."

Jango looked away at that as he asked himself the same question: What was more important to him?

"What will become of my clones?" he asked again.

"That brings us to my proposition."

"And that would be?" Jango asked, tired of the run around.

"If payments stop, so will production."

Jango stilled, "And my clones, the ones who are already viable?"

"I will not miss them," Dooku said dismissively. "However, to stop payments now would be in violation of contract, and I do not know what the Kaminoans will do to them then."

Jango's blood ran cold, knowing too well how lax the longnecks were about to decommission.

It was a two-edged blade, either stand by as his foundlings were put down, or try to save them and have them be slaughtered in mass.

Jango felt old and defeated, "Then what could you possibly offer me?"

"I will give you a head start. I don't know when exactly the Clan Wars will begin again and I will not stop production so long as it does not extend to Republic. However, if it does, I will let you know three months before the last payment is made."

Jango's heart was pounding, there were too many what-if's in this plan.

A plan that only moments ago had been impossible to conceive.

Without Dooku backing them, the Kaminoan's countermoves might be overcome.

Though Jango would not be able to save them alone.

"In exchange?"

"You side against the Republic."

"Agreed."

Dooku smirked, "And you prioritize Separatist trade and interests whether or not you win the war."

Mandalore was at the nexus of hyperlanes essential to trade between the Outer Rim planets as well as between the Outer Rim and the Republic planets. Even during a war, having any allies among the clans was a great advantage.

"And Boba?"

Dooku nodded, "Take him back to Kamino, and as a show of goodwill, I will have Nala Se prioritize his recovery."

For that alone, Jango would do just about anything.

But it was too convenient.

Count Dooku was a Sith Lord, and if fixing Boba's health —something that he had likely requested of the Kaminoans to manufacture in the first place— was something he was willing to do then he was getting something else out of it.

Too bad Jango didn't know what that could be.

This wasn't a good deal, it was contingent on too much.

But he would do anything for Boba.

Even selling himself to the Sith.

Funny how one mistake led to a million others.

The door behind Jango opened as he spoke, "Deal."

"Buir?"

He spun to see Obi-Wan standing with Boba on his hip.

Jango shook his head, "You aren't supposed to be here."

"I called them," Dooku said, walking around his desk. "Come, we will commensurate with tea."

"I hate you," Jango stated.

Dooku smirked but said nothing as he passed him.

Jango sighed, meeting Obi-Wan's gaze. He was surprised to find no judgement in those mournful grey eyes.

Boba wiggled down out of the Jedi's arms, running to Jango.

Jango immediately noted his colour, he was too pale. Jango knelt to pick him up, Boba was having none of it.

"What would you doing, Buir?" Boba demanded.

Jango shook his head, sighing, "It's not for you to be concerned about, ner ad'ika."

He tried picking him up again.

Again, Boba evaded him running back to Obi-Wan, fisting a hand in the grey robe as they followed Dooku.

Jango sighed, hoping that the Count will keep his word.

Obi-Wan was distracted by Jango and Boba as Dooku attempted to engage him in conversation. Something was off with Boba and Jango's worry was thick in the air.

"You worry too much over your Padawan," Dooku remarked.

Obi-Wan tore his gaze away from Boba who had begun to drag behind them. He caught Dooku's dark gaze and said drily, "Yes, because not worrying over our Apprentices is exactly what Jedi Masters are known for."

"Qui-Gon's worry for was nearly the ruin of you both."

Obi-Wan grimaced, "Qui-Gon would have been a better match."

"Your apprentice is lucky to have you," Dooku praised.

Obi-Wan fought not to roll his eyes, "I don't think I am the Master he needs."

"Stop being the Master he needs," Dooku said. "Be who you are. He can only learn from honest mistakes. Those Masters who create new problems by trying to avoid what underlies their own struggles are the very ones who doom their students to repeat the same. Whatever his struggles are, they are different from yours, don't make him shoulder both."

Obi-Wan frowned, of the issues he and Anakin had, that wasn't one of them, not exactly. "I don't make him shoulder my mistakes."

"You do if he doesn't understand you. If he cannot know you, he will never understand your teachings. It is why the attachment between Master and Apprentice is intended to be such an intimate relation. You are his conduit to the Force, and one day he with be the conduit for another."

"What are they saying, Buir?" Boba asked Jango in Mando'a.

"Jetii garbage," Jango answered in Basic.

Obi-Wan stiffened before coming to an abrupt halt as the Force gave a warning, "Boba?"

The boy had slowed, walking lethargically behind them.

He started to tip and Obi-Wan dropped to his knees to catch the child in his arms, "Boba!"

Jango had held Boba's hand and arm as he fell into Obi-Wan's lap. The Mand'alor knelt in front of them as Boba's breath became shallow. A sheen of sweat on the boy's forehead as his eyes rolled back into his head.

Whatever was wrong, it was fast acting.

Obi-Wan couldn't see Jango's face but he could feel his emotions.

Rage, worry, and resigned sorrow bled into the Force as he checked Boba's pulse.

"What's happening to him?" Obi-Wan asked as he helped Jango rise with his child in his arms.

"It's a genetic disease," Jango said, tone clipped. "I must go. Count, we will continue our business over coms."

"Of course," Dooku said. "I wish your son a smooth recovery."

Jango said nothing as he left, Boba slumped in his arms.

And Obi-Wan finally saw it.

Saw how Dooku had kept Jango under his thumb, how the Kaminoans had guaranteed his corporation.

Jango had asked for one thing; a child.

Obi-Wan could hear Lama Su's words in his head: Apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing - an unaltered clone for himself. Curious, isn't it?

A clone with no genetic tempering, but that had apparently been a lie.

A genetic disease.

Jango's child was dependent on the Kaminoans to keep him healthy, ensuring Jango could never betray them.

Boba's life in exchange for every other vode's life.

It was a straightforward choice for a Jedi, one life versus the many.

But not for a parent.

Rex had said it best: Us clones have an odd relationship with the war; it's our brothers dying but without it, we wouldn't exist at all.

Jango had choices.

Let his son die and stop the production of clones, and if he was lucky, the Kaminoans didn't have any backup plans to kill the clones rather than let them free.

It was the same conundrum that kept Obi-Wan from flying to Kamino now.

Yet, because he was from the future, Obi-Wan knew a few things Jango didn't. To start, Boba had been away from Kamino for decades and had been fine, which meant there was a solution for Boba's disease.

He also knew Jango could be persuaded, as long as Obi-Wan could find a way to keep Boba safe and healthy, Jango wouldn't stop him from helping the clones.

Obi-Wan remembered what the Kaminoans had said, even if it had been a ploy. They had been worried that the Jedi had forgotten them.

If Obi-Wan played it right, he could position himself as Shaak Ti had.

Hopefully, Jango didn't shoot him when he showed up, claiming to be a Republic General intent on taking an active role in the vode's training.

Hopefully, Palpatine would lose his mind and believe Dooku had betrayed him.

However, before Obi-Wan could return to Kamino, there were still many loose ends he needed to tie up.

He needed to go to Coruscant and the Temple.

The thought of it filled him with dread. It had been his home once, but he found himself preferring the thought of returning to Mustafar.

"Tea, grandpadawan, mine?" Dooku asked, calling him back to the present moment.

Qui-Gon's ghost gave Obi-Wan a disapproving look in forgetting himself.

Obi-Wan sent a thought across the bond that had reformed between them of his decade of exile that was equivalent to flipping his deceased Master off.

"I would be delighted," Obi-Wan replied to Dooku, not discouraging the endearment.

"We will sit in the gardens."

Obi-Wan knew from the moment he walked into the humid air and spotted Qui-Gon's favourite plant, he knew getting Dooku as his ally would be easier than he anticipated.

Dooku thought he was still in control, still pulling the strings. Even if he somehow anticipated what Obi-Wan would do next, Dooku would not understand all that Obi-Wan already knew about the Sith and their machinations.

AN: Thoughts, shire horses, or feedback, pretty please?