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An easy mission. Next to no danger. That’s allegedly what the Council had told Obi-Wan when they’d convinced him to take on just one more mission even though they were supposed to be able to take their requested vacation days as soon as they got back from the last one.
In and out. Three days max. That’s what Cody had told Rex when he’d somehow convinced him to go along with this, promising that after this mission they’d get that break for sure.
Rex wants nothing more than to tell him, I told you so. And he would, if it weren’t for the fact that they are currently rushing through the doors of a medcenter on Arkanis.
He ignores the faint ding from his comm. It’s undoubtedly a message from Ahsoka, who has regularly been sending him holos of herself – with many cameos from Echo and Fives and a few less from Jesse and Kix – and of everything he’s been missing out on.
He was supposed to be at the cabin with them already, but no. Because, a week into this quick, safe, easy mission, Kenobi had to go and get himself stabbed.
The anxiety Cody’s barely holding in as Rex follows him inside could, at any second, start a planet-wide earthquake.
Not that he looks like it, of course. All anyone who didn’t know him better would see is a man – albeit one that cuts a sharp figure in his civvies, complete with a loose button-up shirt and tight black pants – who looks every bit a picture of calm determination. But Rex does know him, and he knows that the heavy step of Cody’s boots on the flextile floor is ready to carve a warpath.
Unfortunately for the young Togruta receptionist, his trajectory is pointed straight towards the front desk. He steps up just as the Ithorian in front of them is turning to leave, and the receptionist offers him a reserved smile.
She doesn’t make it past, “Hi, how can I–” before Cody is bracing his hands against the edge of the desk.
“Obi-Wan Kenobi,” he says, in short, clipped tones. “I’m his emergency contact. How is he?”
The receptionist taps at the datapad that’s still in her hands from helping the Ithorian, still perfectly cordial as she says, “Yes, of course. Let me pull up the patient information. Give me just a moment.”
Rex can see the way Cody bites at his lip, no doubt keeping his impatience in check. It’s equal parts amusing and jarring to see his ori’vod so worked up. Cody has always been the most patient person Rex has ever known, even when they were young and Rex’s far more impulsive personality tested him around every corner. It’s only ever been Kenobi that can bring out this side of him.
Rex reaches out and puts a hand on Cody’s elbow, temporarily drawing the intensity of his gaze away from the poor, innocent receptionist currently on the receiving end of it.
“I’m sure he’s fine, ori’vod,” he says quietly, as soothing as he possibly can. “We both know he’s been through much worse.”
“Yes, his condition is currently stable,” the receptionist pipes up. “The doctors wish to continue monitoring him, but from what I understand, he should be discharged by tomorrow morning at the latest. If you want to wait, I’ll have one of the doctors out momentarily to give you a full report.”
“When can I see him?” Cody interrupts, his grip on the edge of the desk tightening minutely.
The receptionist pauses. “I’m afraid at this time, due to the nature of the injury and the need for observation, only immediate family are being allowed visitation.”
Cody takes a step back, hands falling back to his sides. Rex squeezes his elbow where his hand still hovers, prepared to pull him back if need be. He knows damn well he’s always been able to trust Cody to keep his head in the most dire of situations – except when Kenobi is involved.
He opens his mouth – to thank her for her help and tell her they’ll be waiting just over there, patiently, without making a fuss, right Cody? – but he doesn’t get a chance to say anything before Cody beats him to the punch.
“I’m his husband.”
Rex stops dead.
It’s only instinct and years of knowing Fives that allow him to school his expression so quickly into something other than complete shock.
The receptionist is not as quick. Her eyes widen as she fumbles through an apology. “Of course. Ah– My apologies, again.” She taps furtively at her datapad and pauses only to chew on the inside of her cheek before continuing. “Yes, here. He’s in room 6027B.”
Her eyes flicker to Rex, and she hesitates long enough for Cody to snap, “He’s my brother.”
Rex can’t see the expression on his face right now, but he doesn’t have to to know how intimidating Cody is capable of being. The receptionist squeezes both hands around her datapad, holding it up a little higher as if to use it as a makeshift shield.
“Thank you,” Rex says, as gently as possible. He briefly considers leaving her a couple of credits, or one of the mints that’s in his back pocket. But Cody has already made it halfway across the room, and he’s really not sure either of his possible meager offerings would be appreciated. So instead, he offers her a smile that feels more like a grimace and an awkward, shuffling shrug before chasing after Cody.
He catches up just in time to slip through the turbolift doors before they close. Not that Cody would have intentionally left him behind. Just– He’s not willing to actually test that theory right now. Not considering–
“Cody,” he says slowly, brought suddenly and violently back to what just happened. “Ori’vod. I know we told Kenobi we’d meet him here, but you do realize they’ll be able to look it up and figure out you were lying, right?”
Cody keeps his gaze trained resolutely forward, unresponsive despite the fact that there’s no way he didn’t hear the question. Force, Rex hates it when he does that.
“I hate it when you do that,” he grumbles. “I’m just saying, we’re probably going to get ourselves kicked out.”
There is a long moment of silence. Cody subtly readjusts the kerchief around his neck. Rex sighs.
Cody’s hands fall back to his sides, and he glances sideways at Rex. “We won’t,” he mutters.
Rex raises an eyebrow. He wants to ask more – Cody usually isn’t one to be recklessly self-assured without cause – but then the turbolift stutters to a stop beneath their feet, the doors sliding open, and Cody is gone again before he can say a word.
This medcenter is fortunately well-organized, unlike some others Rex has attempted to navigate across the years. There is clear signage on the walls and room 6027B is right where they would logically expect to find it, just a little ways down a hall to the left. They don’t pass anyone else as they go, and it only makes Rex feel even more like they’re somewhere they’re not meant to be. Rather than being a reassurance, the silence itches against his skin.
He’s never been comfortable when it’s too quiet, a fact that was true all throughout the war and continues to be true now, long after it’s ended. But they’re safe, he reminds himself, taking a breath and letting the tension in his shoulders ease.
Cody steps up to the door first, knocking when his initial attempt to open it with the control pad earns him only a negative bee-beep.
“Obi-Wan!”
Rex flinches. “Kot’ika!” He hisses a warning as he glances both ways down the hall frantically. Fortunately, no one seems to have been close enough to hear – or at least not close enough to arrive before, a moment later, the door slides open all on its own.
Cody slips inside and Rex makes one last check to reassure himself no one is coming for them before he follows. The door closes again as soon as they’re inside.
The receptionist at least gave them the correct room, because when Rex turns around, he finds exactly who they’d been looking for. Obi-Wan is sitting up in a hospital bed at the far end of the room. The clothes he’d been wearing as part of his civilian disguise have been traded for a barely blue hospital robe. Part of his right forearm is wrapped in a bandage, and he looks tired, but that’s been true since they left Coruscant. So, overall, he seems fine.
“Ah, Cody.” He smiles, lighting up in that way that is so obviously distinct to how he looks at Cody. There is a touch of amusement in his voice when he says, “They told me my husband was on his way up.”
Rex relaxes marginally. At least Obi-Wan is already on the same page, which means he’s not going to be the one to give away the deception, even unintentionally. Cody also looks much less strung out than he had just a moment ago, although Rex suspects his sense of relief comes from an entirely different source.
The small smile that twitches at the corner of his ori’vod’s lips is achingly fond to match the rest of his face. “How are you feeling?” he asks – only after rolling his eyes at the comment.
“A bit sore, I’ll admit,” Obi-Wan says. “It seems I’m not quite as used to fielding blows as I once was.”
“That’s not a bad thing, you know,” Cody huffs.
“I never said it was.” Obi-Wan chuckles, expression turning impossibly softer. “I’m fine, Cody – I promise.”
Cody nods, and even from here, Rex can see the way his face starts to turn redder. He’s just itching to pull out his comm so he can snap a holo to send to Ahsoka, who he knows would get immense joy out of the sickeningly sweet interaction he’s currently bearing witness to.
“I’ve heard that before, too,” Cody grumbles, but he’s smiling. A moment later, that smile takes on more of a twist when he says, “You know, this is exactly why I married you in the first place. So I’d be able to bail you out when you get yourself into trouble.”
Obi-Wan affects an expression of false hurt. “And here I thought it was because of my charming personality and dashing good looks.”
Cody, looking entirely serious – at least on a surface level – hums thoughtfully as his brow furrows.
“I suppose those didn’t hurt your chances.”
Obi-Wan chuckles, warm and bright. And then he’s reaching out a hand, and Cody takes it, meeting him halfway as if he’d already seen it coming.
“Kote,” Obi-Wan murmurs, and Rex freezes.
He’s used to being a third wheel by now, working with these two. It’s never bothered him in the slightest. But this feels different, feels like something he’s not meant to be a part of.
For a moment, he considers slipping out through the door that’s just behind him. But he’s certain Cody would notice, and the last thing he wants to do is draw either of their attention away from this moment. So he stays put.
“Cyare,” Cody murmurs. “I’m glad you’re alright.”
He leans down, one hand braced on the edge of the bed, and touches his forehead gently against Obi-Wan’s and realization knocks into Rex’s chest with the force of a steel-toed spin kick. For just a moment, he stops breathing.
We won’t get kicked out when they find out I’m lying, Cody had reassured him.
Or at least, that’s how Rex had interpreted the statement. But what he really meant was, I’m not lying.
Well. Fuck.
Rex is well aware he’s fully gawking now, mouth hanging wide in an expression of open disbelief. Not that either of the other two people across the room are paying any attention to him. His eyes flicker rapidfire between them. His brother and his General – former General – as unlikely and yet perfectly matched a pair as he’s ever seen.
And then his mouth stretches in the other direction, spreading into a wide grin that he tries, and fails, to bite down against.
“As I’ve told you, I’m fine,” Obi-Wan says again, pulling back from the kov’nyn with an amused huff. “And it would be much appreciated if you would assist in convincing the doctor of such. I’ll admit to dreading the prospect of spending the night here. And as it is, the datacard with the information the Council requested is currently being held with the rest of my belongings, wherever that might be.”
“You got it?” Cody says, stealing the words right out of Rex’s own mind.
“There were some advantages to my assailant’s choice to get up close and personal.” Here Obi-Wan grins, resting a hand lightly over his side, just beneath his ribs. He manages to only barely wince. “For one, I was able to slip it from the inner pocket of his jacket without attracting his notice. Although I suspect he has since discovered its absence and is likely plotting how best to recover it as we speak.”
“All the more reason to get you out of here sooner rather than later,” Cody says, mouth twisting into a tight line. “I’ll see what I can do. Rex–”
He turns his head towards the door and Rex, who is still hovering in front of it, and stops. It takes Rex a moment to realize he’s still grinning like an idiot in a way that’s completely out of tune with the conversation that had just been happening. He schools his expression as quickly as possible, which is still far too slowly to keep Obi-Wan from seeing it as well.
“Right,” he says, voice unintentionally gruff with the effort of keeping the giddiness out of his tone. He’s still not sure he fully succeeds. “Let me see if I can find someone to fetch the doctor.”
There is undoubtedly a button for that very thing somewhere in the room, and it would be much faster and easier to use that. But it’s the out that Rex has been looking for since they got in here, and he takes it. Neither Cody nor Obi-Wan protests as he retreats back through the door behind him. He only just manages to stop from making a comment like, I’ll leave you two alone, as he goes.
He barely feels the floor beneath his feet as he traipses through the halls, wandering aimlessly, in no rush to actually find someone. When he finally does run across a nurse, they watch him cautiously as he gives them Obi-Wan’s room number and asks after the doctor. It’s only halfway through the question that he realizes his manic grin has returned – probably did the moment he left the room – hence the nurse’s trepidation. Although he finds he can’t be bothered to care.
Cody meets him back down in the hospital lobby a few minutes later. Rex silently hands over the second snack bar he’d bought from the vending machine and Cody takes it with a grateful nod before sliding onto the bench next to him.
“What’s the verdict?” Rex asks over the quiet crinkle of biodegradable paper as Cody tears open his bar.
“They have to run one last exam before he can go, but then he’s being released into my care.”
Rex nods. Pauses. With the important information out of the way, he chews on his lower lip, feeling a slow smile already starting to build. He opens his mouth–
“Don’t,” Cody warns, a low growl.
Completely ignoring him, Rex says, “You’re married.” Cody buries his face in his hands with a loud groan and Rex barrels on. “You said the ridurrok. When? I mean– How long? I can’t believe Kenobi is your ridurr. Oh–” He gasps quietly. “Kenobi. Kote Kenobi.”
The name is a pleasant weight on Rex’s tongue and saying it out loud sends a silent spike of joy through him. As inevitable as it seems now, there was a point when he truly thought he’d never see the day.
Cody’s head snaps up and from here, Rex can practically feel the way the tips of his ears glow even as he attempts to pierce Rex with his best Marshall Commander stare.
“Rex,” he says seriously. “You’re my brother. I would do almost anything for you. I love you.
If you tell anyone about this, I will karking kill you.”
“Boo,” Rex chirps through his laugh. “Come on, Kot’ika, what are you worried about?”
Cody relaxes marginally, dragging a hand through his hair. His curls have gotten long, Rex realizes with a bit of surprise. Not in an unruly way. On the contrary, he looks good. Healthy. Happy.
“Nothing. It’s just that–” Cody pauses. The corner of his mouth twitches ever so slightly downward. “We didn’t say the ridurrok to prove anything, alright? Even if he’s a Jedi and I’m just a clone, we don’t have to justify ourselves to the rest of the universe. I love him. He loves me. And we said the ridurrok for us.”
Rex leans in, draping his arm behind Cody’s shoulders and tugging him in closer until they’re half propped against each other. Cody lets him.
“I understand,” he says quietly.
He doesn’t bother to correct Cody, doesn’t reach for the tried and true response of not just a clone. Because he may not have what Cody has with Obi-Wan, nor particularly desire anything like it, but he does understand. There are still days when he looks around at what he does have – his brothers, Ahsoka, his family and his life, and wonders how he was allowed to get here. He was built for war, made to live and die on a battlefield, and for so many years that was all he knew. But then the war ended and still he remained, left to gather himself together and try to fit his pieces into a world that wasn’t made for him.
Some days are harder than others, but the fact that they’re here now is a testament to their success. Rex has carved out a place for himself in this new version of the world, and Cody has done the same. Regardless of how different that looks for the both of them, more than anything else, Rex is–
“I’m just happy for you, ori’vod.” He tilts his head sideways, affectionately knocking his temple against Cody’s. Cody smiles.
“Thanks, Rex’ika.”
“But you still had better have a public ceremony. If I don’t get to give a speech at your second wedding, I will never let you live it down.” Rex elbows him, and Cody startles at the contact. Rex can basically feel the heat crawling up the back of his neck from here. “But. Only when you’re ready.”
Cody snorts, but there’s a softness to his expression that tells Rex he means it when he says, “Deal.”
The turbolift dings halfway across the lobby. And – as if drawn by some sixth sense, or perhaps more appropriately, the Force – Cody’s head snaps up just as the doors slide open and Obi-Wan steps out, accompanied by the nurse Rex had found earlier. It takes him all of two seconds to spot Cody in return, and the way he lights up is probably visible to the entire room.
“I think that’s my cue,” Cody says. He pushes to his feet, absently squeezing Rex’s shoulder once before he goes. Rex watches him drift across the room, slotting in perfectly at Obi-Wan’s side. They come together flawlessly, just as they always have – twin suns, orbiting one another, equal in their gravity.
Riduure, he thinks, the word warm against his consciousness. It feels right.
As he watches Cody talk with the nurse, Obi-Wan’s hand brushing at his elbow as if on its own, his comm dings quietly in his pocket.
[Group: The CC GC] (1 new message)
Wolffe: CODY IS WHAT