Hey everyone! Hope you are doing well! Another chapter done! Hopefully you all enjoy it. Did I do this to procrastinate doing a paper? Yes. Did I enjoy doing this a lot more than writing said paper... also yes. So it was a win-win. I got to enjoy my procrastination and there's another chapter to show for it!

DS2010: Thank you for your comment and I agree. Obi Wan is trying to calm and reacquaint himself with the force while he is a prisoner. It's difficult to find peace after everything though. Luckily, Cody and the other clones are there to help!

Enjoy everyone! Lots of Love - Lorna:)

"Lord Vader." Cody dipped his head respectfully as Anakin walked into the room. Vader did not acknowledge his presence but Cody knew it wasn't necessarily because the man was purposefully slighting him. Based on the dark shadows and the way his entire body seemed to sag, Cody suspected Anakin had finally worked himself to the point of exhaustion. Even the force couldn't sustain him forever, and by the looks of it, it had been sustaining him for far longer than just the most recent weeks that Obi Wan had been present. Though, Cody would admit, Obi Wan's presence might have been a tipping point.

"Lord-"

"What commander?" Anakin asked tiredly, turning to face him.

"The prisoner," Cody started, forcing his voice to be steady. "He's becoming anxious and it's affecting his mental state. I request permission to bring him out of solitary for a short period, escorted by myself."

Anakin looked at him with scrutiny, eyes in the dark standing out starkly yellow before he turned away.

"Granted, as long as he wears a force inhibitor and cuffs. Don't go near any ships."

"Yes, Lord Vader"

"You're dismissed."

Cody nodded.

"Commander." Something about Vader's voice had changed; it was softer, and there was an almost recognizable warmth to it. "Don't call me lord anymore."

"Yes… Sir?"

Cody thought he saw the man's shoulders shake in a silent laugh, but it was hard to tell in the dark.

"That'll be fine for now."

With that Cody left the room, his confusion trailing behind him in the force. Vader sighed as he looked at Kenobi, sleeping uneasily on the floor. He could understand how days in near solitude could make the room get smaller day by day until it was pressed up against you on all sides. Until you were trapped and unable to get out. He understood. Obi Wan's cage was tangible, but Anakin's was not. One of them might as well have a moment of relief. Besides, it's no fun to live with an emotional wreck. There was only one of those allowed per room, and Anakin was pretty sure he had that covered.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Obi-Wan sluggishly got up the next morning as the earliest signs of "dawn" approached. Really, that just meant the lights were simulating the beginnings of the sun pushing the darkness away. His body ached, but he couldn't place why. It wasn't as if he'd been exerting himself in any way other than frequent pacing and the occasional tap against his thigh. Well… it might have been more than occasional recently, but he wasn't quite willing to admit that yet. Anakin was gone, again, and he was starting to suspect that his padawan was avoiding him. He vaguely remembered hearing the voices last night, so he knew Vader must have returned at some point. He groaned as he forced himself to sit up and open his eyes. Cody's bucket greeted him, and an armored hand offered to help him off the floor.

"General." Cody said, his voice distinctly chipper. Even his aura in the Force seemed happier than normal. "Morning."

"Cody." Obi Wan acknowledged as he stood. His fingers immediately went to his side. "Why do you seem so pleasant at what I can only assume is 4 or 5 in the morning?" Tap Tap Tap.

"It's 4:15 and I have something for you."

"Oh?" Obi Wan asked, rubbing his forehead to fight off a budding headache from sleeping wrong on the floor. "What would that be, Commander?" Tap Tap Tap Tap.

Cody held out a set of folded tunics that Obi Wan gratefully took. After spending the last few weeks in the same outfit, he was grateful for a change of clothes.

"Thank you, Cody." He meant it, too. Cody felt a sudden, but not unwelcome, feeling of gratitude rush into his head, something that could only have come from the Jedi in front of him. Cody didn't know if it was sent purposefully or if it just happened to spill over through their shared connection.

"Anytime, General. Though I could say that I might have been acting somewhat selfishly."

Obi Wan grimaced. Wearing the same clothes for a couple of weeks was rather unpleasant. "You could make that argument." Tap. Tap.

Cody laughed silently, his shoulders shaking. "Go get changed and I'll happily burn those clothes for you."

"You certainly don't need to go that far, but I will take your advice."

OoOoOoOoOoO

Obi Wan returned briefly, looking more alive than Cody had seen him in the past few days. Change, even if it was simple, helped. Obi Wan relished the feel of clean clothes, even if the outfit was perhaps too familiar to him—the Jedi tunics from the Clone Wars. It reminded him of a better time. Tap taptap tap tap taptap.

Cody spared a quick glance at what was quickly becoming Obi Wan's anxious habit. Luckily, his helmet hindered the movement so Obi Wan couldn't tell.

"Why the sudden care for how a prisoner is dressed?" Obi Wan asked, breaking the silence.

Cody shrugged, "They probably didn't want you to walk around the ship looking like you just were dragged out of a junkyard." He willed Obi Wan to understand what he was subtly pointing out.

"The ship? We're leaving the room?" His fingers froze before they resumed their pattern.

Cody nodded. "Don't get too excited. We aren't going anywhere interesting. And you only get about an hour."

It didn't faze the jedi. Cody saw some light return to his general's features, an ease that comes from having something to do, something to look forward to. Perhaps it should't matter to a "true" jedi, but Obi Wan was only human, and everyone needed something to keep them going. Cody had followed orders for so long, he had thought that they were his purpose, but he had been discovering that he rather enjoyed spending time with the General again. Someone who treated him like a human and not cannon fodder. He gently took his helmet off as he looked at Obi Wan.

"The only condition is that you need a force inhibitor and cuffs."

Obi-Wan nodded as though he had expected this. Resignedly, he held out his wrists to the Commander. Cody clipped on the cuffs as gently as he could while still maintaining some air of security. He pulled out the force suppression collar. Now that Obi Wan had just got it back, it felt almost unbearable to give it up again. He eyed the collar wearily. Cody caught onto his wary gaze.

"It's an ultrasonic inhibitor." Cody said softly, watching Obi Wan carefully. He looked relieved at the news.

"Thank you." He said quietly. Sincerity flowed into Cody and it made his guilt attack with renewed vigor as he went to go put it in place.

Ultrasonic inhibitors were the least detrimental of the inhibitors. Electric collars were painful, and Obi-Wan had bad experiences associated with them. Slavers enjoyed watching their Jedi prisoners suffer, and Cody was glad that Rex had put a pole through that knifing son of a nerfherder. He could remember what his General had looked like after he had been rescued. It was not a memory he was ever going to willingly make him relive again. Chemical inhibitors were out of the question as well. They had the tendency to actually make the wearer lose access to the Force. Usually only temporarily, but he didn't want to risk even the off chance he could permanently disable the Jedi. In addition, chemical inhibitors often make the wearer panic because of the abrupt sensation of being severed from the Force. Reactive collars posed the same problem. They were designed to make the wearer suffer in ways that Cody didn't intend to put Obi-Wan through. Ultrasonic was the most comfortable for a force user; it doesn't shock the wearer, and while it does cut them off from the Force, it used ultrasonic pulses to mimic it in a way that was familiar.

As the inhibitor beeped on, Obi Wan flinched and then sagged. Cody waited for him to adapt to the feeling before offering his hand to pull him off the ground. "You ready to go?"

Obi Wan smiled, and even without the force Cody could see that it was real. "Most assuredly."

Cody put his helmet back on to cover his grin. "Let's go then.