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CC-2224 felt wrong. Defective. That must be why his squad abandoned on this desolate waste of a planet. He was after all useless if he was defective. He was CC-2224, only worthy if he was good. Defective wasn't good. It was bad. He wasn't defective. He was a person. His name was... what was his name? He didn't have a name. He was CC-2224, a clone of the Empire. He hunted down traitors. The Jedi were his friends, and he betrayed them. The Jedi were traitors, and they deserved to die. They were his friends! He was his friend! And...
And he ordered him to be shot off a cliff. He did his duty. Good soldiers follow orders. Says who? Says everyone. No, wrong... Good soldiers... Good soldiers follow orders. What if he doesn't want to be a good soldier? Not an option. It is an option. He could disobey. He could fight. There was a rebellion. He could join them. They needed help. He could train them. He could save the... traitors, the Jedi are traitors. Jedi were their generals. They were their friends. They bled with them. They died for them. They betrayed the Jedi. The Jedi betrayed them.
CC-2224's throat was parched. He had a headache. Dehydration. He ran out of water days ago, and he noticed it more with the heat beating down on him. He ate his last portion of a ration bar. Regulations said they should be eaten all at once, but CC-2224 had held onto it. Defective. No. Smart. He would starve. He's a broken soldier. He has no purpose anymore, better to die than to live uselessly. He didn't have to a soldier. He could be anything. His general told... His general was a traitor. Good soldiers follow orders. Good soldiers kill their generals, because their generals... were their friends. General was his friend... General was more than... General was a traitor.
Name.
What was his name? What was General's name? What is a name? A series of unintelligible symbols that beings give meaning. He had no name. He had a serial number. His serial number had meaning... Linked to test and scores and his abilities. But he was more than tests and scores and a series of numbers and adapted DNA. He had a personality... CC-2224 was defective. Personality was for natural borns, not clones. Clones are born soldiers, only more intelligent droids. They do not care. They do not have personalities. They do not become individuals. They are all one and the same. Just as every Jedi is a traitor, every clone is their executioner.
No, Cody refused. He didn't want to be an executioner anymore. He paused midchew... Cody... His name was Cody. CC-2224 didn't have a name. CC-2224 was defective and needed to be put down. No, Cody was a person. He was a person. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve any of - CC-2224 didn't deserve anything. He was a clone. A machine. He had no thoughts, so he did not care.
But he did care. He did care. His brothers... Clones do not have brothers. He does. He does have brother. Rex. Wolffe. Ponds. Bly. Fox. Longshot. Waxer. Boil. Crys. The shinies who never lived long enough to be given a name or pick one for themselves. His brothers deserved better. He should have been stronger for them. They deserved a commander, an ori'vod, that was stronger, better, who could protect them. They deserved someone better than him.
He collapsed. Cody collapsed under the searing heat of the twin suns and the pain in head. His vision swam, and he thought he saw the specter of Obi-wan. His general. His cyare. His riduur. He must be dying. That's good. He would be able to see Obi-wan again. He could talk to him, apologize, explain. Would it make things okay? He doubted it, but he would give Obi-wan some closure, resolution, hopefully some peace. And seeing his brothers again didn't sound horrible either. He missed them. They drove him up a wall, but he loved them and missed them. He couldn't wait to see them again. Dying wasn't so bad.
And his heart stopped.
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Obi-wan thought the heat was getting to him for a second. There was no way Cody found him. To Cody, he was dead. Cody had... Cody had been the one to order him shot off a cliff, because the Chancellor deemed them traitors. They had gotten married. They had been close once upon a time. And Cody threw that all away for someone who deemed them less than droids. Duty always came first. They both understood that, but Obi-wan wondered when Cody's duty to kill him superseded his vows to Obi-wan.
Obi-wan repeated them under his breath. ""Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi ba'juri verde. We are one when together, we are one when parted, we will share all, we will raise warriors." He watched, using the Force to keep an eye on him. Well, at first, he was just trying to make sure Cody didn't see him or recognize him. Although, he was mildly curious (not concerned, definitely not concerned) about why Cody was in the middle of the Tatoonine desert. He seemed to have lost his helmet at some point. Obi-wan didn't think that was much of a loss. The new armor did hardly anything to keep them safe. (Not that Obi-wan cared anymore. It wasn't his problem. They told him it wasn't his problem when they shot him off the cliff.)
Obi-wan pretended that it didn't hurt anymore, that he was over Cody, that he had moved on from the betrayal and the heartbreak. But in reality, he wasn't. So he checked on Cody, following him for a while. The Force wasn't warning him, so Cody hadn't noticed him yet. It urged him to look closer, to observe. He hummed. Cody's mind was erratic. His Force presence flickered. Sometimes becoming something almost like the old Cody, the Cody who would rest his head on his chest while they did formwork together. The Cody who would hand him lightsaber back with a teasing smile if they mission went well or a concerned anger if the mission had gone poorly. The Cody who had to fight back his laughter while Obi-wan would lecture Anakin about his lightsaber being his life while his own lightsaber was hanging snugly on Cody's belt.
And then it would return to the almost blank slate that it had been since the order went out, or Obi-wan assumed. He wasn't sure when it changed it exactly, and he wasn't sure how or why it changed. Right now, it seemed to be flickering between the two, almost as if the two Cody's were fighting to control the body. But how was that possible? What did it mean? Which Cody wanted to win? Which Cody did Cody want to win?
Obi-wan knew which Cody he wanted. He wanted the Cody who put up with his Force nonsense. Who, despite being uncomfortable at the Temple, came to the temple to participate in the Jedi wedding traditions. It wasn't always able to be done, and sometimes the partners refused, which Obi-wan would have completely understood given the circumstances. However, Cody, despite his hesitations, went through the Jedi marriage traditions as well. He waded into the pond at the very center of the depths below the Jedi temple, said the vows, with candles lit around them. He listened to Mace give them the Force's blessing. He was even willing to stay for the fun and games and music and dancing, but unfortunately, they were called for a mission soon after.
That was the Cody he wanted. The Cody who went out of his comfort zone, because "it was only fair." The Cody who grinned at having married Obi-wan twice, even if the Jedi customs confused him. The Cody who grumbled about his brother's teasing with a fond smile. The Cody who bragged to Bly that he married his Jedi first to Bly's protest of "it's not a competition, Kote."
Cody. Kote. His husband. His riduur. So understanding and kind. Brave and selfless.
That was the Cody he wanted.
He glanced back at Cody. It seemed the Cody he knew had won the battle, but he was still unsure of what that meant. Could Cody be Cody again? And what did that mean for them? Did this Cody still love him? Or would this Cody change and try to kill him again? Obi-wan stayed hidden and watched as Cody staggered down the slope. He didn't look well. He looked like he was sick, dehydrated, maybe even hungry. He watched and waited. Until Cody's knees gave out from underneath him and he tumbled down the hill. Obi-wan raced over to him, heart pounding in his throat. He couldn't hear anything over the rush of his heartbeat in his ears.
He sank to his knees, a call of his husband's name slipping through his lips. Cody's eyes were glazed when he looked up at him, and a spark of recognition crossed through his eyes and then acceptance. Cody's mouth pulled back into a weak smile, and then his eyes rolled back. He was out... No, not out... Dead. His heart was stopped. Obi-wan didn't give himself time to grieve. He didn't have time. He commed Beru, begging for her help, and he started CPR immediately after. Pumping against Cody's ribcage, he felt his ribs shift. He pulled away and placed his mouth over Cody's, breathing for him. He returned to the pumping. And then breathe. Pump. Breathe. Pump. Breathe. Pump. This time he felt the ribs crack, and the next, they broke.
Beru arrived shortly after. She checked his pulse, which Obi-wan had yet to find the courage to do. He had been pouring his life force into Cody, silently begging him to live. "His heart is going again. We need to hurry. I don't know what's wrong or how much I can help. I only know how to help in terms of injuries like burns, blasters wounds, broken limbs..."
"I did break some of his ribs," Obi-wan teased with a small smile.
Beru chuckled. "Help me load him into the speeder. Owen took Luke to Anchorhead, so he won't be in the way." Obi-wan nodded, both sad and relieved. Luke was four, and he was the only thing he had left of one of his closest friends and his brother in everything but blood. He would have liked to see him, meet him, but he also understood that Luke would be more curious than helpful now. He was so much like his father in that regard. Time was of the essence now. Cody's heart was beating, and he was breathing on his own, but they weren't sure how long that would last.
It was a tense drive to the Lars homestead. Obi-wan was sure Cody's heart was going to stop at any moment and they would not be able to get it back. However, he stayed somewhat stable throughout the trip, and Obi-wan was able to get him into the home and onto a couch, so Beru could check him over. Beru worked on him for a few hours, and she was still working when Owen returned with Luke. Luke was sent to put away their supplies, despite his curiosity.
Obi-wan turned to Owen. "I'm sorry. I thought we would be gone by now." He was remorseful. He hadn't wanted to drag them into this, and he certainly didn't want to put them at risk. He hadn't been thinking when he called Beru. The Lars were his only friends, not that they were really friends, on Tatoonine or really anywhere at this point. All he knew was that Cody was dead or dying, and he needed help. But he didn't know how Cody would react when he woke up. If he would be Cody or if he would be the soldier loyal to the Empire. He brought him to the Lars home, to Luke, and he didn't know what would happen. If he would have to kill Cody to protect them. That might kill him.
Owen nodded with a frown. "You had nowhere else to go. I hope your friend will be alright."
Before Obi-wan could respond, Luke popped his head in. Before Owen could banish him to his room or outside, Luke toddled over to Obi-wan, stared up at him with his wide, blue eyes and asked, "Who are you?" Obi-wan blinked down at him for a second, baffled. It was a simple question, but it wasn't a question asked with much innocence anymore. Mostly suspicion or cruelty.
"I'm Ben," he finally answered.
"Who's he?" Luke asked, pointing to Cody.
"That's my... friend," Obi-wan replied.
"What's his name?" Force, did Luke ask a lot of questions? Just like both of his parents.
"Why don't you ask him when he wakes up?" Obi-wan asked.
"Alright. When's that?"
Obi-wan looked down, sadly. "I-I don't know." Luke frowned, and then he pulled on Obi-wan's pants leg. Obi-wan looked down at the four year old, and Luke tugged again.
"He wants you to pick him up," Owen said, "We've been trying to get him away from the habit, but sometimes we indulge. At some point, he won't want to be picked up or will be too big to be picked up." Obi-wan took the unspoken permission and picked the four year old, placing him on his hip. He glanced over at Beru, who was still working on Cody tirelessly. He worried. He understood things were wrong with him, but he hated how long it was taking for Beru to tell him if Cody could be saved or not.
"He'll be okay," Luke said suddenly.
"What?" Obi-wan said, returning his attention to the child.
"He'll be okay."
"How do you know?"
"My imaginary friend told me."
"You have an imaginary friend?" Obi-wan asked, needing the distraction.
"Uh huh," Luke said, playing with some of the loose fabric on Obi-wan's shoulder. "She's a princess and she lives near woods."
"Oh?" Obi-wan asked. "How old is she?"
"She's four, like me," Luke said, holding up three fingers. Obi-wan chuckled at that and lifted his pinky. Luke looked at his fingers and then nodded. "Four."
"Do you think she's pretty?"
Luke scrunched his nose up in disgust. "Ew, no. She's my sister."
"What's her name?" Obi-wan asked, getting more and more curious about this imaginary friend. He had almost forgotten about his worry for Cody. Conversing with Luke was easy and a great distraction. He wished he could do it more often. The boy reminded him so much of his lost friends, and it hurt, but in a good way. It was cathartic.
"Leia." Obi-wan's heart stopped, and even Owen looked surprised. Beru tensed, but she kept up her work on Cody.
"Who?"
Luke noticed, and he looked between the adults suspiciously. "Leia. Is she real?"
Obi-wan wasn't sure how to answer that right now, so he ignored that question. "How did you meet Leia?"
Luke shrugged. "In my dreams, and then we started talking when I was awake. She's a princess, but she likes to run in the forest and get dirty. And she doesn't like one of her cousins. I wish I had a cousin. We have the same birthday, and we both lost our parents, so we think we're siblings. She kinda looks like me too, but she has brown hair and brown eyes. I have blonde hair and blue eyes."
Obi-wan wasn't sure what to make of their conversation, and his heart was racing. How had the twins connected? They hadn't been together since they were a few hours old. Could they have bonded in the womb? Obi-wan hadn't heard of it, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen. Force sensitive child development was not his strong suit, and besides Anakin always seemed to be an exception.
Fortunately, Cody stirred with a groan. Beru interrupted the conversation to say the obvious. "He's waking up." Obi-wan set Luke down and moved to stand next to Cody. Beru backed up to give him room and also so if anything goes wrong, there was space to defend themselves. This was a clone after all. And they had betrayed their closest friends. Who knew what Cody would do when he woke up or what he was capable of?
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Cody blinked, groaning as pain washed over his body. It was muted though, and he saw that he had been set up with a rudimentary IV. Confusion crossed his mind. Who would go out of their way to rescue a clone? It wasn't like the Empire cared if he lived or died. He had lost his value. Although, he was kind of glad about that. He hated the Empire. He hated what they stood for, what they did, what they took from him. He hated Palpatine. He hated Vader. He hated the natborn officers, who got away with committing murder, because "clones aren't sentient. Clones don't have rights." He hated what his hands did. He hated what his mouth said. He even hated his own thoughts. He buried himself so far down, so he could escape the glimpses of reality.
Before he could look around and figure out where he was, a child's face appeared in his vision. "Hi, I'm Luke," the child said. "Ben said I could ask for your name when you woke up."
"Luke!" a woman's voice admonished, and she came into view too, picking up the child. "I'm so sorry."
"It's-" he croaked, and then he coughed to clear his dry throat.
"Oh, you poor thing... here, have a glass of water," the woman said, handing him the glass. Cody gulped down as the child pouted and whined.
"I'm... I'm Cody," he said again. "Where am I?"
"Tatoonine!" the boy said with a wide grin, and Cody checked his memory. Yes, they had a mission here. A rogue Jedi. He hesitated to kill the Jedi, looked too much like a Padawan he befriended on Coruscant. He was ordered to be left behind. He fought the chip... He fought the chip.
And won.
"I see," he said, in disbelief. He had beat the chip... He could have beaten it if he had fought hard enough four years ago when he ordered his riduur shot of a cliff. Tears welled up in his eyes. He could have saved his general, if only he had fought harder. Even though he had wailed against the chip, he had been unsuccessful. His general was dead, because he had failed.
A hand wiped tears from his cheeks. A familiar hand. Rougher maybe, but still familiar. He looked over, and he saw his riduur standing there, with tears streaming down his face, a smile upon his lips. Cody stared, wondering if he was still hallucinating, or if he was dying after all. But those hands felt real. Which meant, they had failed. The Empire had failed. There was still so much to say, so much to explain, but right now, he was just glad Obi-wan was alive.
"Cyare?" he asked, hesitantly, and Obi-wan pulled him into a deep kiss.
"Ewww, Aunt Beru, they're kissing!" the child yelled as he was ushered out of the room by the woman.