AN: I feel like this has become the most fanfiction-genre fic I've ever written, more so than The Queen Does Not Need to Know, this was supposed to be a filler section, not a whole chapter.

Chapter 31 - Tenuous

Setting up camp was a bit difficult as they kept having to add to the census. Looking over the names, Obi-Wan was beginning to wonder if Silas really knew and trusted all these families.

Having finally let go of the majority of his reservations, Kal was double checking everyone coming down in addition to the Nubian security.

The ade were all doing well, adoring being able to play in the lush grass beneath the sun along with the other ade brought in from other clans and the Nubian orphanages.

Initially, some of the kids had tried to bully the vode but everyone had learned quickly that bullying any of the ade was a good way to get a couple of hundred vode coming after you like a swarm of carnivorous spiders.

Currently, Obi-Wan was going over ship classifications with Jango and Wad'e when Obi-Wan felt a blaring warning in the Force.

And for a moment, the galaxy went dark.

Obi-Wan felt his bond with Alpha as if he was the only star in the sky.

"Obi-W—"

Obi-Wan pushed past Jango and was running across the grasslands assisted by the Force.

He saw Alpha arguing with another boy, who was taller and already wearing pieces of durasteel armour.

Obi-Wan had his blaster drawn.

He recognised her, one of the trainers in a past life who the vode had told him they had been afraid of.

"Isabet Reau," he yelled.

She turned to him, raising her bracer toward him, away from his ad'ika.

He didn't slow his speed at all as dropped to a knee, skidding through the grass as he scooped Alpha into his arm, taking him out of reach of the woman.

Obi-Wan's blaster was already pointed as low as he was and as close as he was he had a clear shot.

He pulled the trigger; twice.

It was overkill. Inside of a Beskar helmet, the energy would ricochet inside it, making it nearly impossible to survive.

She dropped, to the ground.

Obi-Wan turned his attention to Alpha who was frozen in his arms.

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan demanded, checking him over.

"Buir?" Alpha asked, uncertain.

"What the kark!?" the other boy yelled.

People were gathering, but Obi-Wan didn't take his eyes off Alpha, "Are you alright, Alpha Kenobi Fett?"

Alpha nodded, "Yes, Buir."

Jango finally caught up, looking between the body and Alpha before asking, "Obi-Wan, what the hell?"

Obi-Wan stood with Alpha held to him securely and blaster still out, "Isabet? What the kark was Isabet Reau doing here?"

"She is —was— a bounty hunter," Jango said.

"She is Death Watch," Obi-Wan snapped.

oOo

Alpha was shaken.

He had been raised for war his entire life. He had seen his vode die in training. Seen his vode never wake up. Seen them be taken away to be decommissioned.

But only now did he realise he'd never actually seen anyone be purposely killed like that, not in front of him.

The world felt unreal as he watched his buire argue about the presence of Death Watch in camp.

The General had moved so fast and he was so angry.

Alpha hadn't even realised he was in danger. Would the General be mad at him? For not being aware of his surroundings?

These thoughts made it hard to breathe.

Despite being held, the General was wholly focused on the Prime.

The uncertainty of not knowing if he was in trouble or not was unendurable.

Cautiously, Alpha reached out to touch the exposed part of his buir's neck and jaw, his copper helmet still clipped to his belt.

His General didn't pull away or ignore him.

Instead, his buir, pressed into the touch, holding Alpha closer, and dipping his head down so the sides of their foreheads pressed together so he could continue speaking with the Prime while acknowledging him.

Relief flooded Alpha at the reassurance that his buir wasn't upset with him.

Trusting that his General wouldn't change his mood or lash out, Alpha reached up to hug him, clinging to him.

The General kept talking with the Prime but holstered his weapon to hold him even closer while rubbing Alpha's back.

He focused on breathing, happy for once that the General had insisted on all of them learning and practising meditation without trying to speak with the Stars like Cody and Omega did.

Alpha was a bit embarrassed to have been caught off guard. But it was supposed to be safe here.

Of course, the General had never said that, others had said that. While the General told them that as the Mand'alor's ade, they would always be targeted.

He was right.

But Alpha's buir had kept him safe despite that.

Maybe it had been close, but Alpha was still grateful Buir had chosen him.

oOo

They were arguing in circles, mostly because they were having an adrenaline crash.

Jango began barking orders to have Isabet's body taken away and stripped of Beskar.

Obi-Wan ran his hand through Alpha's hair, pulling back to look down into his eyes, "Are you sure you are all right, ner ad'ika?"

"Lek, ner buir," Alpha agreed, slightly embarrassed.

Obi-Wan pressed their foreheads together, "You did well."

Alpha frowned at him, "I didn't do anything."

"You didn't fight me. Had you flinched, I might have missed."

Alpha clearly didn't believe him, but accepted the point with a short nod.

Obi-Wan kissed his brow before pulling him back beneath his chin as Wad'e checked over Isabet's bracers and boats, where most easy-access weapons were sometimes stored.

Wad'e shook his head, "Poisoned darts, he wouldn't have made it to help."

Obi-Wan had to let his breath go, glad that his first experience of this with one of his now ade was with Alpha. Not because he cared about Alpha less, but because he was intimately familiar with the feel of Alpha's Force signature in pain.

In another life, he and Alpha had been tortured nearly to death together by Asajj. And Asajj being a Sith then, the torture had been spiritual and mental in addition to the physical. They had almost drowned in the escape attempt.

It had been quite the bonding experience, and though Alpha was not that person, not that man, his Force signature was familiar to Obi-Wan.

As dear to him as Cody's light had been. While pain consumed him, he'd been able to focus on Alpha's light.

The bitterness he had embodied to keep him and his vode safe, masking his hurt and rage for what he was.

Anger was almost always born of fear, but Alpha had been afraid of nothing, had a sort of radical acceptance of the circumstances of his life that was impressive.

But his anger was born from the love of people he believed he could never save.

Obi-Wan knew who Alpha was to his core, he knew him even better as this little boy who trusted Obi-Wan with every reminder of the fragile hope that existed in him.

And here, in this moment, he knew Alpha wasn't physically hurt and that the distress he felt was more about the vulnerability he was feeling.

It was enough for Obi-Wan to keep his own head.

Although, he wasn't particularly happy about the reminder of how tenuous his own grip on reality was still.

He wasn't exactly afraid of the Dark side, though he had no doubts about his capabilities to rain down vengeance on the galaxy to keep his remaining loved ones safe, no, that wasn't the problem.

His problem was that if he ever lost it too far, he might forget where and when he was, and as closely as the Force was with him nowadays, it was possible he might get lost in it.

Might lose this body.

He wouldn't be able to time travel again, he would just die and be as Qui-Gon was.

"Mesh'la," Jango coaxed, laying a hand over his where he held Alpha.

Obi-Wan looked up into Jango's eyes, not voicing his fear that they had almost lost Alpha.

Their ad.

And that Obi-Wan might be lost with him.

There was a reason he had restrained himself in adopting the vode. Why, despite being bound to all of them, he had only created Padawan-like bonds with the ten he shared with Jango.

If Jango died, Obi-Wan would probably become half a person.

Even the past year, much of Obi-Wan's time had been spent plotting against their enemies.

He would forge a better future for his ade till there was nothing left of himself.

If he lost any of his ade, Obi-Wan would be dependent on Jango to hold him together.

If he lost too many of his ade, he would join them whether or not Jango held his own shit together.

Obi-Wan was only forty-something years old, but there was only so much he could do.

He could only trust that the Force knew this, and protected his loved ones.

With the warning today, Obi-Wan felt a bit more confident that things would be okay, as long as he listened, and as long as he continued down this path, the Force would guide him.

Qui-Gon would be proud of him.

Jango was currently leading Obi-Wan back to their ship.

"I want every new warrior who didn't serve under you directly, gathered," he told Jango.

"Would you be able to tell me who was in your old clan?"

Obi-Wan shook his head, "I was six years old last I lived with Tor and the clan despised me, my mother despised me, I couldn't tell you their names. There's a chance I would recognize them in person but there are no guarantees."

"Is it worth gathering them then?" Jango asked.

It was a reasonable question, "I can read it in the Force most of the time if someone lies. I can sense when someone hates me. Besides that, if their hatred is too great they won't be safe to have around the vode. They aren't Stewjoni, that doesn't mean they won't take their displeasure of me out on them."

Alpha stirred in his arms, "All the vode, or just us?"

"Racism is stupid, ner ad'ika. You have to warp reality in your mind and think against logic. People who act on racism are either repeating what those do around them without self awareness or seek to dominate others to make themselves feel less inferior with their own shortcomings."

"But the Prime is Mandalorian, so are the Stewjoni," Alpha argued.

"Yes, but the Death Watch are a cult whose followers were primarily recruited from the Core worlds. The New Mandalorians are also Core educated. That Jango and you might have a blood right to the Mandalore System hurts their pride. And Stewjon is a Mandalorian colony, the planet's resources and people will always be viewed as a conquered people, dominated by Mandalorian culture, not a people who might themselves define Mandalore."

Alpha's expression set, "But you will, Buir. You'll show the galaxy that you are a true Mandalorian."

Obi-Wan smiled at him as they climbed the ramp, "We will, ad'ika."

"Buir!" Fives shouted as soon as they boarded.

Jango shut the ramp as Wad'e who had probably gathered their other Ade and waved farewell. Jango kissed Alpha's cheek, squeezing Obi-Wan's hand before going to the cockpit to make some calls.

Obi-Wan didn't put Alpha down. He simply sat down with him, letting the others climb on top of him. Clinging to his armour as they all began to speak at once.

Helix snapped a short command at them all as he checked over Alpha with a serious expression on his young face.

"I'm alright, ner vod'ika," Alpha said, releasing Obi-Wan to allow Helix to verify this.

In an unamused voice, Helix retorted, "You'd say that if you were dying from blood loss, ner ori'vod."

Somehow, he made the title 'older brother' sound like the diminutive.

Helix had not been Obi-Wan's first medic in the GAR, no, that had been Bones, but even Bones had reached his limit with General Kenobi.

Helix had been the only medic, including Healer Che, long suffering enough to deal with him.

Helix had a wicked sense of a humour and a tone so dry even Anakin had feared him.

Of course, not even Helix would have been willing to be Anakin's full-time medic.

Obi-Wan bowed his head to allow Helix to start his check on him, his small hands taking note of his pulse at his throat.

"He's fine, Hel'ika," Jango said, coming in. "Isabet died before she knew he was pulling the trigger." He sat down, scooping Appo and Gregor into his arms as he sat on the floor with them, knee to knee with Obi-Wan. "Silas is doing his rounds. We are on lockdown, if anyone makes a run for it, we will have them brought into custody. He is organizing a register and will bring out anyone who he or I could not vouch for. However, the number of warriors who have Beskar isn't that large and I don't suspect many of the non-Mandos would be Death Watch. Although they too will be investigated, as it would be necessary of anyone applying for Mandalorian citizenship through us."

"Almec is Death Watch but then I would agree none of the Watch would be without their armour unless it was an absolute necessity," Obi-Wan agreed.

"Buir," Alpha asked firmly though there was hesitation in his Force presence. "Was your shabuir really Death Watch?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan answered. "He was their leader, Tor Vizsla."

He knew the vode heard snippets, though Obi-Wan wasn't sure how much he and Jango had said in front of them. They had likely heard more from others and he was both glad that Alpha trusted them enough to ask and that they had the sense not to believe rumours at face value.

Though in this case, the truth was possibly more outlandish than any of the rumours.

Alpha was looking at Jango now who sighed. "As you know, Tor Vizsla, along with a traitor from our own clan, Montross, killed both my biological parents and my buir, the True Mand'alor, Jaster Mereel. And for it, I killed Tor in a duel."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Appo asked Obi-Wan.

He shook his head, "Not at all, I know what evil my shabuir was capable of better than most. Killing Tor was a service to the galaxy."

"What about your mom?" Omega asked.

Obi-Wan sighed, "My mother was a fanatic. She was Stewjoni and hated it so much that she shaved her head every day to hide her hair colour, even her eyebrows. She tattooed a rancour over half her face and nobody ever asked what she was. She taught my brother to hide his heritage as well, though he looked like a perfect image of Tor's father. A blonde with clear eyes, so it was relatively easy for him."

Rex touched his head, "I'm—"

Jango batted his hand away, and ruffled both Rex's and Omega's hair. "My sister and mother were both blondes with dark skin. You both look so much like my sister Arla it makes me smile."

"You had a sister?" Fives asked, wide eyed.

"Yes, my ori'vod was a spitfire. It took a dozen dar'manda to hunt her down through the woods. And even without armour she managed to kill five of them."

"What about your vod? What was he like?" Gregor asked Obi-Wan.

Cody glared at him.

Obi-Wan smiled sadly, "My ori'vod taught me all I knew about self defense and our language. He was good to me when all others treated me as if I had been marked by the plague."

"Because you were Stewjoni?" Alpha asked.

"No, because I was born small, my lungs weren't fully developed when I was decanted. The Watch is an extremist group..their ade are not treated as ade, we are property of our parents. Extensions and representations of them. I was not a fit legacy in my parents' eyes. They named me Obi-Wan Kenobi because they assumed I would not survive infancy much less until I was three."

"But you did survive," Alpha said.

"Being born early is typically not a problem. Had my parents been willing to take me to a hospital they would not have seen me suffer through the last stages of development."

"The Longnecks were the same," Alpha said.

Obi-Wan cupped his face in his hand, "Being perceived as weak, is not a weakness, ad'ika."

Alpha bowed his head and pressed himself back to Obi-Wan's chest.

"What happened to you?" Cody asked.

Obi-Wan hummed, "I was saved by a Jedi Master, who in retrospect should not have been there. But another Jedi had been killed in that time while he was adopting children. Master Tholme as a Jedi Shadow, a Jedi who acts on missions where they must hide what they are, was investigating the Force brought him to me and he save me."

"Save you from what?" Helix asked.

"My ori'vod and I were playing too near sea cliffs. He lost his balance in the wet grass and slipped off the edge. I used the Force to catch him and pull him back to safety. Our mother saw this and attempted to choke me so when she threw me into the sea I would drown."

"What did your ori'vod do?" Rex asked.

"He ran for help. He was no match for our mother and she wasn't above harming him for disobedience."

"And then the Jedi Master came and saved you!?" Omega asked.

Obi-Wan smiled. "Master Tholme is a big man. Jango would barely reach his shoulder."

"Did he decapitate her?" Boba asked.

Obi-Wan shook his head, "No, he jumped us from behind and knifed her under the armpit to get around the armour. He didn't use a lightsaber so that he wouldn't bring attention to himself or the Order."

"So how did you know he was a Jedi?" Rex asked.

Obi-Wan smiled, "Tholme pulled me into his arms and as my mother fell like a stone, we seemed to be held aloft by the sea breeze. I still managed to swallow enough salt water to feel like a bathed tooka but Master Tholme didn't let us drown or hit the rocks. He got us away safely."

"What did he say to you?"

Obi-Wan shook his head, "I don't know, my spoken Basic wasn't that great back then."

"Then what happened?" Boba asked.

"He smuggled me into his fighter and abandoned his mission. He had sensed me using the Force. We went to Coruscant and I was admitted into the healers wing."

"Did you behave?" Helix asked.

Obi-Wan grinned at him, "I didn't run away. But I didn't speak at all. I was adopted by Master Ali-Alann and he was very patient with me. He was safe."

"Were the other Jedi safe?" Cody asked.

"My crechemates had their own challenges to overcome. Many were adapting from being given up by their buire, and that is rarely easy even when it is not as dramatic."

"I still hate that," Jango said.

Obi-Wan shrugged, "The Seekers don't take in that many younglings, Jango. Many come to us when their ade have powers or nightmares they can't help them with. But the majority of our younglings come from families who can't raise a child for one reason or another and fools who think having a child join the Order will give them political clout."

Jango growled, "Does it?"

"No, if a parent is willing to give their child to orginisition they didn't bother to understand, they are most often deemed unfit parents and are taken in. It is disgusting how many of our younglings are attempting to be sold to us. Those parents are typically arrested except in cases of poverty, when the child is accepted and the parent is given a ticket to anywhere this is where they want to go."

Jango shook his head, "We really aren't that different."

"Don't sound so pleased," Obi-Wan jested.

"Did you have lots of vode in the Jedi?" Cody asked.

"All of the Order would address each as siblings, aunties, and uncles. It's not our way to use those titles but they are felt and the easiest way to explain our connection to each other. However, there were those who were closer to me or farther apart. My best friend was Quinlan Vos, he was also discovered by Master Tholme and Tholme chose him as a Padawan."

"Why didn't he choose you?" Cody asked.

"Quin was a gifted psychometry. He sees visions when he touches objects or people. He was so gifted, in fact, that it caused him harm. His family history is not much better than my own so Quin was accepted into the Order older than most, while also chosen as a Padawan earlier than our other crechemates."

Jango must have caught something in his tone because he asked, "What does Quin think about your leaving the Order?"

"He was a bit frantic when I disappeared without warning. We were very close once. Part of the reason we were that close was because I have a natural gift for shielding and it kept him safe when we were together."

"Together?" Rex echoed.

Jango seemed interested but not concerned at the question.

"Typically, Jedi younglings sleep in communal piles or share bunks like your vode."

Jango huffed, "If I brought a group of my commandos into creches, what would happen?"

"They would quickly beat them into submission to play with them. You might find, your commandos adopted and life long servents to the creches."

Jango shook his head, but his come went off and he answered it, "Lek."

Obi-Wan didn't hear what he had to say but he knew it would mean a lot of work for him.

Then Obi-Wan received a call on his own com, he answered it and was surprised to hear Rael's voice.

—Obi-Wan.

"Yes?" he answered.

—Where ever you are stay there. I presume you are with your children?

"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed.

"Everyone is lined up," Jango said.

—I'll cover for you, Obi-Wan, stay with your kids. I've been doing undercover work for longer than you have been alive, I can discern anything you believe you could from this inspection. And the Force is giving me a headache to protect you, so just, for once, let yourself be taken care.

Jango swallowed a laugh.

Obi-Wan glared at him, "I'm not sure…"

—I'm sure, brat, Rael snapped. —So feed your horde of kids lunch and watch a holo-musical with them or something.

"What's a musical?" Omega asked, perking up.

Obi-Wan could practically hear Rael's smirk, —Guilt him into playing on of his favourites and he will definitely sing along.

"Oh, now I'm sorry I'll miss it," Jango teased.

Obi-Wan stuck his tongue out at his Riduur.

—He has a beautiful singing voice, Rael said cheerfully.

"We know," Gregor said, smug.

Obi-Wan sighed in defeat.

Jango leaned forward to steal a kiss from his lips, before rising to his feet with a real laugh, "Ner ade, make sure your General Buir doesn't leave this ship without express outside permission."

"Yes, sir," chorused all of their ade before flopping onto Obi-Wan, pinning him where he was.

Jango smirked and blew them kisses as Obi-Wan was already deciding on which musical he wanted to introduce to their kids that would make his Riduur most regret leaving them alone for.

As it turned out, Obi-Wan wasn't the only one with a decent singing voice.

oOo

AN: Thoughts, monarch butterflies, or feedback, pretty please?