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Quinlan laughed at Fox. "Come on, you've never tried that before?"
Fox glared at him, half of his drink gone. "I've tried some things that were not nearly so spicy. How can you stand it?"
Quinlan shrugged. "I got the tolerance, and experience with Kiffar dishes. They're all over the place in terms of how wacky they are, and some of them are pretty spicy, though I prefer the ones with flavor over the ones that are spicy just because."
Fox huffed. "You could have warned me this would be spicy here."
Quinlan shrugged, finishing off his dish. "I don't usually eat in this part of Coruscant. I had no idea it was going to be that spicy. Usually can't take those signs seriously, some people just can't handle their spice."
Fox huffed, but didn’t protest anymore. He didn’t really mind; he liked it hot. It had just been unexpected. "Remind me again why we can't go home yet when our mission is done?"
"It's done but if we want to make our involvement in what's about to happen go as unnoticed as possible, it's best to lay low here in the hotel room we've been using the whole time instead of leaving now. I know it's annoying, but sometimes it's best to let things wrap up as neatly as possible in order to ensure the best outcome, and maybe be welcome back in this area again."
"You make a good point," Fox said grudgingly. "What do we do since our reports are done?"
"Watch a movie. Move over. I think I saw some good ones on the listing." Quinlan nudged him and then settled in to watch the movie happily.
Fox rolled his eyes and let Quinlan lean on him.
The cuddling was the main reason he liked working on missions with Quinlan, no matter what kind of missions and investigations, Quinlan always found a way to end up cuddling.
Fox enjoyed it, and even more, he enjoyed not having to ask for affection as Quinlan always gave it easily.
The movie was mostly over when he got a comm.
Fox groaned and answered it without looking. "Commander Fox."
"Execute Order 66."
Quinlan turned to Fox to see what Order 66 was. He was shocked to see a little holo of the Sith.
"It will be done my lord," Fox replied without missing a beat. He turned to Quinlan and launched himself at Quinlan, hands closing around his neck.
"Fox? What are you doing! What's Order 66?" Quinlan was scrambling to figure out what happened. He pushed Fox off of him and darted away. He eyed his lightsaber, but decided against it. He didn't want to hurt Fox or cause needless destruction.
So, a lightsaber was not an option.
At least Fox didn't have his blaster yet. Or armor on.
Quinlan fought back, then managed to pull away. Fox wasn't stopping. He found a spot to sit for a moment and catch his breath, trying to process what had happened.
The moment Fox answered that comm, he went muted in the Force, almost blank. Like he was still there but also... not.
And now he was single mindedly trying to kill Quinlan.
Quinlan closed his eyes and breathed before popping up, keeping the couch between them.
"What's going on? What's Order 66? Why are you trying to kill me, Fox?"
"Good soldiers follow orders."
"Great, what order are you following then?" Quinlan went the opposite way Fox did, carefully keeping the couch between them at all times.
"Jedi are traitors. Kill on sight."
Fox sounded almost like a droid.
Quinlan continued playing dodge around the couch, mind whirling as he tried to figure out what was going on.
"Come on Fox, you know me, I'm not a traitor."
"All Jedi are traitors."
Quinlan frowned. Why was nothing working? What had happened to Fox? Why was he taking orders from the Sith?
He kept dodging and trying to get through to Fox.
He reached to consult the Force on the best course of action.
He was promptly hit with holes and dying, so strong that he fell to his knees, gasping as tears poured out of his eyes.
So many Jedi... dead. Dying one after another... that Order had gone out to all the clones, hadn't it?
If Quinlan survived this, would he be the last Jedi?
Fox slammed into him and pinned him down before wrapping his hands around Quinlan's throat to strangle him.
Quinlan wasn't sure he even wanted to fight back anymore, knowing that his family was dead or dying.
"Fox... Fox please..." he whispered. "This isn't you... It's the Sith, he's controlling you somehow... Come on..."
He gasped as Fox squeezed harder.
"All Jedi must die. Good soldiers follow orders."
Quinlan reached up a hand and touched his cheek. "You've never been a good soldier, Foxy. Because you're a better person, and you're a fighter, and you're stubborn. So please... don't do this. Don't kill me..."
Fox didn't falter.
Quinlan didn't have any real reason to fight. Everyone was dying. The Sith had ordered it, and with all clones hunting down Jedi... it was a life on the run for Quinlan, alone in the galaxy.
Quinlan couldn't handle being alone.
Quinlan saw spots dancing in his sight and knew he either had to fight back, or accept his death.
"Fox... I love you. I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop you. It's not your fault... I..."
Quinlan couldn't keep up the Force technique he was using to be able to talk despite Fox strangling him and losing oxygen.
As he fell unconscious, he reached for the Force, ready for its embrace, and to join all the others in the Force.
.
"Fox... I love you." It was like a rush of cold water shocking him out of a haze. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop you. It's not your fault... I..."
Fox looked down at Quinlan as Quinlan went limp. He stared at his hands still strangling Quinlan, strangling the man he loved.
Why couldn't he stop? Why was he hurting Quinlan like this?
A whisper of 'good soldiers follow orders' drifted across his mind.
Kark that.
Fox fought through the haze and let go of Quinlan. He stared at his shaky hands. Had he done it? Had he taken back control? He hoped so. He didn't want to lose himself like that ever again.
Quinlan wasn't breathing.
Fox scrambled over. "No, no no no no..." He started trying to revive Quinlan. "No, come on Quin..."
He counted and breathed and pushed and desperately prayed that he wasn't too late.
"Please, Quin... I love you too." Fox found that unlike usual, he didn't care that he was crying.
Fox continued, desperately, in denial. Finally, he slumped over Quinlan's body, crying. Quinlan wasn't waking.
He looked up and spotted Quinlan's lightsaber. He could use that. He had killed Quinlan, it only made since that he use Quinlan's weapon to die.
He got up and grabbed it. Wondering why Quinlan hadn't used it to save himself.
He walked back to Quinlan and sat down, staring at the lightsaber. Quinlan didn't blame him. But Fox did.
Fox didn't want to live in a galaxy where he killed Quinlan, where he had no buffer against the kriffing Chancellor.
Quinlan gasped and rolled onto his side.
Fox jumped and rushed over. "Quin? Quin? You're alive?"
Quinlan groaned, coughing and gasping for air. "Ow..." His voice sounded hoarse.
Fox hugged him and cried.
Quinlan blinked up at him, confused. "Foxy?" he mumbled.
"Hey, Quin. I'm sorry, I love you, I don't want you to die."
"You... you're you again."
"Yeah... I'm sorry. I don't... I don't know what came over me, it was like there was a haze and... you love me."
Quinlan smiled at him. "'course I do. You're the best," he whispered hoarsely. "You were ordered to do it, the Sith ordered it."
"Why?" Fox asked, bewildered.
"I can feel... I might be the only Jedi left," Quinlan whispered, feeling tears come to his eyes at the weight of the statement. "Everyone is dying. I almost died. I thought I did for a moment but the Force decided it wasn't my time. and..." Quinlan started crying. "They're all gone... I'm the only one left..."
Fox wrapped his arms around Quinlan and started rocking him. "You're not alone, though. I am not leaving your side until you tell me too. I'm not going back to the Guard. Kark being a soldier, kark following orders, and kark anyone who thinks that killing your entire family is okay."
But nothing could truly bring Quinlan comfort in the face of all the holes in the Force.
Quinlan cried himself to sleep.
Fox stared at him then sighed and carried him to the bed.
He spotted Quinlan's lightsaber and carefully placed it on the bedside table. He had almost killed himself with it. But it turned out, Quinlan was alive after all.
Then, Fox turned on the news. There was the Chancellor, announcing that the Jedi had tried to assassinate him.
Fox gaped as the Chancellor turned the Republic into an Empire, and himself as Emperor.
It was then it clicked. The Chancellor had been the Sith all along.
...no wonder all the Jedi were gone.
Fox turned off the news and curled up around Quinlan.
One night, then they had to figure out what to do next. Life on the run wouldn't be pretty, but it would keep them alive.
.
Quinlan woke up feeling numb and hollow. It took him a few minutes to figure out why. There were gaping holes in the Force. So many, it was hard to tell if any had survived.
Quinlan was wary of navigating the holes in an attempt to find out if any those he was closest to had survived.
Fox came in with breakfast, dressed casually.
"Morning, Quin."
"Morning, Fox. What's it like out there?"
"Almost normal. A lot of people are scared, and people are confused as to what happened with the Jedi... But it's not that bad. But no Jedi are going to be escaping easily. We'll have to make sure they can't recognize you."
"Right." Quinlan sighed.
"There does sound like there's survivors, but I imagine everyone is scattered. And Quin?"
"Yeah?"
"The Temple is burning."
Quinlan drew in a shaky breath. "I knew the younglings were dying too... but on fire? Can we go see?"
"If you think we can be unnoticed..."
"I know some ways in that people who aren't Jedi wouldn't know about. I grew up playing pranks in that Temple, I can get us around unnoticed, if anyone is there."
Fox let out a sigh. "Alright. I think you'll need the closure."
Quinlan nodded. "Not today, they'll be on the lookout for more Jedi... give it a week. We'll need to find a different place to stay and..."
"We'll figure it out. For now, let's take our time. We don't need to check out for another hour, and we're already packed up."
Quinlan nodded and started eating slowly, not really hungry, but he knew he had to eat.
Fox started eating as well. "Are you alright? Your voice sounds rather rough."
Quinlan grimaced and showed him the bruising on his neck.
"...oh. Right." Fox looked away. "Sorry. If it hurts to talk... you shouldn't."
Quinlan nodded and leaned on him, sighing.
.
It was finally time to go check out the Temple. Quinlan found his favorite entrance and led Fox in.
It didn't take long to find the first bodies.
Quinlan barely kept his composure as he walked through the halls. So many dead Jedi, Jedi he recognized.
He heard the steps of troopers walking through the halls, and yanked Fox into a hall and dashed until he spotted the tapestry. He pulled Fox behind it and opened a secret door.
The troopers passed right by them.
Quinlan heard a noise and turned.
"Master Quin?" A small voice asked hopefully.
Quinlan almost started crying. He knelt down. "Hey, Hari." He opened his arms for the little twi'lek.
Then he noticed the other four initiates huddled together. He held out an arm. "Come here," he said softly.
The four initiates almost tackled him, clinging and crying.
Quinlan soothed them and hugged them all, doing his best to make sure they were okay.
Hari gasped and stiffened, looking up at Fox with wide eyes.
Fox sat down and held up his hands. "I'm not like the troopers. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Why'd they do it?"
"Because..."
"Because the Sith has a way to control them. Fox managed to break it, but not all of them can do that," Quinlan answered gently. "Have you been here the whole time?"
Hari nodded. "Remembered when you showed it to us. I'm hungry. Can we get out? What's going to happen now?"
"I don't know, Hari. We'll figure something out, though. I'm not letting the Emperor get a hold of any of you."
"The Emperor?"
"The Sith, who was the Chancellor."
"Oh."
Quinlan kept a hold of them for a while.
"Master Quin?"
"Yes?"
"Why did Knight Skywalker try to hunt us down? And why didn't he find us?"
Quinlan's heart sunk. Anakin had betrayed them. No, now wasn't the time to think about it. He let out a breath.
"Well, I never showed him this little room, and I don't think Obi-Wan did either. Fortunately for us, he was never interested in this kind of thing."
"Oh."
Fox disappeared and came back. "I think if we're going to head out, we need to go now... but I'm not sure what to do... they need food, but people will notice us showing up with five younglings, only one of them human, and all around the same age..."
Quinlan was about to say he didn't know either when it hit him. "Dex! We'll have to take a different exit to be close, but Dex won't betray us."
"You're certain?"
"Absolutely." Quinlan said, standing. He picked up the youngest of the initiates, who was five. The oldest (Hari) was seven.
Fox picked up the initiate who wanted to be carried.
The rest followed cautiously.
It went smoothly, though not without jump scares.
Finally, they were out of the Temple.
Quinlan checked over the initiates and then started walking to Dex's Diner.
He stared at the door. It said Closed.
Dex was never closed during the day.
Quinlan hesitantly tried the door. It opened.
"Can't you read the sign? We're closed." Dex sounded emotional, like he was close to tears if he was not crying.
"Dex? We need help," Quinlan said as Fox made sure all the initiates made it inside.
Fox then locked the door just for good measure.
Dex looked up at his voice, disbelieving. "Quin!" He jumped up and swept him into a tight hug.
Quinlan leaned in, closing his eyes. Dex always had the best hugs.
Dex stopped and stared at Fox.
Fox held up his hands. "Some sort of Sith control got to all of us. I barely managed to break free before..." he trailed off glancing at Quinlan.
Dex nodded, and then noticed the initiates. "Younglings! They survived?"
Quinlan nodded. "They're hungry. I think I need to go back to make sure others didn't manage to find the hiding spots people wouldn't know to check."
"I'll make food for all of you and then we can sit and make plans."
The initiates found places to sit and shyly told Dex what they wanted.
Quinlan kept an eye on them, still amazed that some initiates had made it through after all.
Fox was on guard, wary of relaxing entirely.
Over food, they discussed what they could do for the younglings, what they would do if any more were found.
That afternoon, the Path was born.
.
Quinlan slumped as he watched the last of the twenty three younglings he had found in the Temple disappear with their new guardian. They were safe. But he would miss them.
"I wish I could have kept them all."
"Me too," Fox said, wrapping an arm around Quinlan. "You would have done well with them... I know how hard this is for you."
"But they're safer spread out across the galaxy, hiding that they're Jedi, learning how to live like other people." Quinlan leaned in, closing his eyes. "At least they're alive."
"At least they're alive. And we're going to keep them that way?"
"We?"
"You think I'm going to leave you alone? I know you don't do well alone, I'm not going to leave you if I can help it. Especially since I love you."
"Love you too." Quinlan sighed. Then he smiled and turned his head to kiss Fox. "This could make things easier, they'll expect a single person doing what we do, not a couple. They'll expect Jedi to be working alone."
"They don't even know what happened to us," Fox replied smugly. "I made sure of it. So they definitely don't have any idea we're working together." He kissed Quinlan again. "I'm glad we have each other."
"Me too." Quinlan smiled up at him, then turned to face the galaxy. "Let's go see what else we can do to keep people safe from the Empire."