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Cody hated this kind of mission. The ones that were supposed to be easy but in the end there was some Jedi osik that made them a lot harder than the regular campaign. He was made to fight, it was what he did best. He wasn't good at... Whatever they were doing. 212th was accompanying General Kenobi on some stranded planet where there was supposed to be a Jedi artifact. Obi-Wan explained that the whole ordeal was because of someone's Force vision which of course didn't seem to cure Cody's anxiety. He tried to coax some information out of his general, but Obi-Wan either didn't know more or wasn't planning to tell Cody more. Either way, after three days in the hyperspace Cody found himself on the planetside along with General Kenobi and twenty other troopers, including a medic named Kar'ta. They were surveying an abandoned Jedi temple, a dark and gloomy place. Obi-Wan was behaving strangely, Cody decided, but when he asked if everything was all right, Obi-Wan denied having any problems.
After what felt like an eternity General Kenobi found some hidden chamber and announced that he found the artifact.
"Finally," Waxer grumbled. "This place gives me chills."
"I've still got a bad feeling about this," Boil added.
"Shut up," Cody growled, he didn’t want to press their luck, but it was too late. The damage was done.
The moment Obi-Wan barely touched the strange-looking figurine, it flashed a red light.
"GET DOWN!" Cody yelled, mostly to alarm his brothers because Obi-Wan was already encompassed in that strange light and they couldn't do anything. When the light disappeared, the general was lying on the floor, unmoving, figurine away from his hand.
"General?" Cody moved a bit closer, trying to keep a safe distance from the artifact. "Kar'ta, get in here, we need a medic..."
Obi-Wan suddenly opened his eyes and stood up as if nothing happened. But something definitely did.
His eyes were yellow. A Sith yellow, to be precise, and the smirk on his face looked more cruel than sympathetic.
"Well, well, well. Aren't you a pretty one?" he said, looking at Cody.
"Who are you?" Cody hissed, squinting his eyes.
"Shouldn't you be the first one to introduce yourself? I recall you calling me your general a moment ago. So it means you're under me." Obi-Wan's voice was cold but he was still smiling and it only made the whole scene more terrifying.
"I'm CC-2224," Cody said stiffly and Obi-Wan tsked.
"Is that how your precious republic treats you? Giving you numbers instead of names?" he raised his eyebrows.
"We get the names by ourselves," Cody explained.
"And yours is, my dear?" A flash of white teeth behind the smile.
"Cody. I am General's Kenobi second in command."
"Kenobi? That's a name I haven't heard for a very long time." Obi-Wan stroked his beard and Cody used him, as he thought, a moment of distraction to shoot in his direction, quickly changing the blaster's setting to stun. The impostor almost lazily pulled out the lightsaber - red, which was both surprising and not - and parred the attack.
"Seriously? Is this how you treat your superior?" his eyes suddenly darkened and the smile was gone from his face.
"You're not my superior, you karking aru'e," Cody hissed as he charged at him, trying to kick the weapon out of his hand.
"Shoot!" Cody yelled, wishing his brothers all understood what he was doing. He never bested General Kenobi in hand-to-hand combat, but he could distract him and give his troops an opportunity to stun him. Or so he hoped because it seemed their only chance to win this fight.
Cody got a few stun bolts himself, but Obi-Wan was finally stunned unconscious and unceremoniously fell on the ground, lightsaber falling out of his hand. Cody quickly took it and clipped it to his belt. He was so used to picking up his general's weapon that this felt almost familiar, even though the lightsaber seemed wrong.
"All right, everyone!" he yelled. "I'm taking Boil, Longshot, Crys, and Kar'ta with me back to the Negotiator, we're taking the general with us. The rest of you..." he hesitated for a moment. "If you find a way to secure the artifact, take it with you back to the ship. Don't touch it with your hand, don't breathe in its general vicinity. If you won't be able to take it without touching it, leave it here. Don't care about it. Let the Republic send here another Jedi, I'm not risking the lives of my troopers. Waxer, you're in charge here."
"Yes sir," Waxer answered. Cody spared one more look before he moved towards the entrance to the temple, the general hanging between him and Boil as they dragged him with them.
***
Obi-Wan was put in the brig, Force-suppressants cuffs on his wrists. He didn't look particularly concerned about it when Cody entered his cell.
"Drink," Cody said swiftly, bringing the hydropack against his lips.
"The word 'suck' would be better here as I can't really use my hands to drink," Obi-Wan answered with a smirk and Cody really wished he could hit him. Crys standing behind him snickered.
"Do you want the water or not? I don't have to be here," Cody snapped. Obi-Wan silently started drinking, looking at the commander defiantly. Cody really wanted to hit him, make his general snap out of this strange change of character. He didn't, though. He just let him drink until the hydropack was empty and then left without another word.
***
"Commander Cody," Windu greeted him. "It's a relief you made contact, the council was getting worried something went wrong."
"Oh, absolutely everything went wrong, general!" Crys said brightly and Cody sent him a death glare.
"I don't think I understand." Windu frowned.
"We secured the artifact, but... It affected the general."
"Affected how?"
"He's all... Sithy." He ended flatly.
"Sithy."
"Yes, General Windu." Cody cleared his throat. "When he touched the artifact, it flashed red light and it knocked the general off. He woke up after a moment but he was... Different. His eyes are now yellow, like Sith's eyes are, and his lightsaber is red when he is using it. He behaves differently, too."
"Believe me, General Windu, I wasn't aware you can put so many innuendos in one conversation." Crys grinned and Cody slapped him on the shoulder.
"Where is General Kenobi now?" Windu tried to remain professional but Cody could see the amusement on his face.
"In the brig. We managed to stun him on the planetside and we temporarily imprisoned him, with force-suppressant cuffs. His cell is under constant guard. I have no idea what is happening but I don't want to endanger anyone." Cody was speaking confidently, trying to defend his choices. General Windu nodded.
"You did good, commander. Return to Coruscant immediately. How much time it will take you?"
"Two days in the hyperspace."
"Five without," one of the engineering clones said, coming closer. "The hyperdrive is dead. I mean everything seems fine but it's not working. There is nothing to fix but we can't use it."
"Do you think, general, that it may be caused by the artifact?" Cody asked. Mace seemed deep in thought for a moment.
"It may," he finally said. "Return to Coruscant as soon as possible. We'll redirect one of the generals to escort you. Until then you are in charge, Commander."
"Yes sir!" Cody saluted and didn't relax until the blue figure of the Jedi master disappeared. Then he sighed.
"Great. More duties." Crys giggled.
"Look on the bright side, Cody!" he answered.
"What bright side?"
"General is going to sleep!"
Cody snorted.
"Yeah, one good thing in the ocean of shitty ones. Great."
***
"I want to talk to Obi-Wan. I don't care if he is sleeping, I need to know what is happening," Anakin's blue figure demanded over the holo.
"I'm afraid it's not possible, general Skywalker," Cody answered, doing everything he could not to sigh dramatically.
"What do you mean it's not possible? We're almost here, just..."
"You were sent to escort us back to Coruscant?"
"Yes, Master Windu asked us, he said that you can't use a hyperdrive or something."
"So he didn't tell you what happened."
"No details, no."
"Of course, he didn't, why should he, it's only the most important part of the whole affair," Cody murmured irritated. He sighed, this time couldn't stop himself, and started talking again.
"212th and General Kenobi were sent to retrieve a force artifact from the deserted Jedi Temple. We did find the artifact but it was, well..."
"It made general go bad!" Crys supplied.
"What is that supposed to mean, Cody?" Anakin asked frowning.
"It means that after the general made physical contact with the artifact, he changed so that he resembles a Sith."
"A Sith."
"Yes, general."
"Obi-Wan. Our Obi-Wan."
"So it seems."
"Are you mad? Is that a joke?"
"No, general, although I really wish it was a joke."
"We'll be at your position soon, I'll take a shuttle and..."
"With all due respect, general," Cody interrupted him. "I won't let you board that ship."
"What?!" Anakin exclaimed. "Why?"
"I have no idea how powerful the artifact is. If it affects the ship, stopping us from using the hyperdrive, I have no idea if it affects other Jedi, even if they won't touch it. We already had to stun general Kenobi when he attacked us. I'm not risking another fight."
Anakin was silent for a moment, almost shocked by the commander's flattness.
"What do you want us to do, then?" he finally asked.
"Move Resolute closer to the Negotiator. If you see that your ship is being influenced by the artifact, move back."
"Are you sure, Cody?" Ahsoka asked, she sounded worried. "What if Master Kenobi attacks you again?"
"I would be really surprised if he was able to, honestly, considering all the precautions," Cody answered. "He is in the cell, there are Force-suppressing cuffs on his wrists, unfortunately, a necessity, and there is a constant watch. Also, I'm the only one who enters his cell."
"You do?" Anakin seemed surprised.
"Yes, general. It's another necessity in this situation as he... Let's say he does not like to eat when I'm not the one to bring him the food."
"So that one didn't change, he eats when you tell him to," Anakin said, amused.
"If I have the power to save him from over-exhausting himself, even if he is not himself right now, then it's not a big deal to do it." Cody shrugged. "He'll be back to himself eventually."
"All right, commander." Anakin nodded. "We will be careful. You just keep Obi-Wan safe."
"Yes sir," Cody answered, saluting
"Mhi linba jorhaa'ir," Rex spoke suddenly and Cody nodded.
"Elek," he answered and then he disconnected before Anakin could ask him to clarify. "He's like a child." Cody shook his head with a sigh.
"I thought you meant Rex for a moment," Waxer said.
"Him too." Cody laughed. "But mostly general. I'm going to rest a bit. Waxer, you have the bridge. If anything happens, deal with it, or wake me up if it's urgent."
"Sleep well, Codes." Waxer patted his shoulder.
***
"So what is it with General Kenobi?" Rex's blue figure asked when Cody finally contacted him.
"You heard what I've said on the bridge. The artifact messed with his head and he isn't himself."
"And you are sitting with him because he doesn't tolerate anyone else?" Rex raised his eyebrows.
"It's not that." Cody shook his head. "First and foremost I'm the one to go there because I don't want to endanger anyone else. But yes, he seems to... Accept my presence the most."
"And you indulge him."
"It's still my general." Cody shrugged. "He will be back to himself eventually like I've said. So." He cleared his throat. "Is it everything you wanted to talk about?"
"Well, I have something stupid that Fives told me."
"I'm used to stupid ideas, as a commander I hear them all the time. What's up?"
"So Fives did the reading when we learned what happened to General Kenobi. And he found this... Fairytale."
"I don't understand how the fairytale can help me."
"Just... Listen. Even if you think it's stupid. So. In that... Fairytale there was a princess under a curse, and she wasn't herself because of it. She was vicious, violent, and generally everything bad. And then she was kissed and everything went back to normal. It's called a magical true love's kiss I think?"
"Let me repeat my question. How can it help me?"
"Maybe if you kissed your general, he would you know. Be back to himself." Rex sounded much less certain than before.
Cody just laughed.
"Seriously, vod'ika? That's why you wanted to talk to me? To suggest I should go and kiss my general because some fairytale meant for children made you think it would help?"
"Generally I wanted to ask how are you holding up! But before I called I met Fives and well... Sorry, Codes."
"There is nothing to be sorry for, Rex. It was nice to talk to you, fairytale or not. But I guess I should be getting back to my work. And by work, I mean visiting my general, not to kiss him or anything."
Rex snorted.
"Don't you feel even a little tempted to do it? Come on, Cody, I see how you look at him!"
"And how exactly am I looking at him, hmm?"
"As if you were in love with him." Rex suddenly sounded so serious and Cody couldn't even lie to me that he wasn't right.
"Either way I'm not going to do anything. We'll get back to Coruscant and it will become Jedi Council's problem.”
“You’re hopeless, vod.”
“Love you too, vod’ika.”
***
For the next two days, Cody tried to forget about Rex’s revelations about true love’s kiss. He tried and failed. Every time he went to Obi-Wan’s cell he was thinking about trying this solution. He tried to convince himself that it was just a stupid fairytale and there was no way it would work, but it always came back to him. Even Obi-Wan’s behavior prompted him to do so, by being more flirty and it almost infuriated Cody. The thought to just kiss him and see if it helps couldn’t leave him.
And one day before their arrival on Coruscant he did.
He went to Obi-Wan’s cell in the morning as always and his general greeted him with a half-snarky half-flirty comment and Cody just snapped.
"I'm sorry in advance for what I'm going to do now," he said before he took his face in his hands and kissed him.
Obi-Wan sighed in his mouth and after a moment he started kissing back, as good as he could considering he still had his wrist cuffed behind his back and he couldn't even pull Cody closer.
When Cody moved back, he was afraid to look at his general, but when he finally forced himself to do it, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Obi-Wan's eyes were blue again.
"Cody?" Obi-Wan asked. "Why are you looking at me like this?"
"You're back," he answered, which only confused Obi-Wan further.
“From where?”
Cody snorted.
“It’s a longer story.”
“Care to at least tell me why I am in the brig and… Are these Force-suppressant cuffs?”
“Yes? It was a necessity. Tell me, general, what is the last thing you remember?”
“Don’t call me general, we’ve just kissed my dear.”
“I… yes, of course.” Cody coughed nervously. “So what do you remember, Obi-Wan?”
“We were in this Jedi Temple and… I think that’s it?”
“You touched the artifact and it turned you evil. You were temporarily a Sith and you attacked us, so we stunned you and we put you here. We’re on our way to Coruscant now.”
“Oh.” Obi-Wan blinked slowly. “And… The kiss? Not that I’m complaining, I just need to know if I’m too good to you? Maybe I should be a bit more sithy.” He grinned and Cody rolled his eyes.
“You’re perfect just the way are,” he answered warmly and Obi-Wan’s smile softened. “The kiss is actually Rex’s fault. He told me some fairytale about true love’s kiss that can break any curse and well…” he hesitated. “You were so infuriating I thought I’d try.”
“So are you trying to say that you’re my true love?” Obi-Wan teased. “Don’t look at me like this. You are, I know that.”
“You do?” It was Cody’s turn to be surprised.
“Of course! But I wasn’t going to act on my feelings because technically I’m your superior and I didn’t want to put you in an uncomfortable situation.”
“It was… considerate of you. But that means I’m almost glad about the whole artifact situation because it gave me an excuse to kiss you.”
“So you did want to kiss me.”
“Of course I did, Obi-Wan,” he said softly.
“Well… If you’d be so kind as to uncuff me, I would really like to kiss you properly.”
That comment suddenly made Cody of two guards outside Obi-Wan’s cell, who had seen the kiss for sure. He decided he didn’t care. When the cuffs were off of Obi-Wan’s wrists, he immediately pulled Cody closer by the waist, kissing him softly.
“I think I am in love with you,” Cody said when they parted again.
“You think?” Obi-Wan smiled. “Do I need to kiss you again?”
Cody laughed at his words. Then he remembered something and quieted.
“What am I going to tell the Council?” he asked, looking at Obi-Wan.
“Tell them… You know what, don’t tell them anything. We might tell them that the effect of the artifact wore off or something.”
“What if someone touches it and becomes sithy like you?”
“Then the Jedi Temple will have the right amount of kisses under its roof.”
Their loud laughter startled the guards outside.