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Chapter Text

Obi-wan was standing in his apartment at the temple, still in his robes and armour from the last battle, having waited until he could have a proper water shower since it had only been a short skirmish with no injuries only a few hours from home. He had even hoped to see his husband, since he knew Quinlan was in the temple at the moment.

He wasn’t yet in said shower because of his now grown padawan.

His fully grown padawan (with a padawan of his own), who had been waiting for him in his apartment, pacing and looking frantic enough that Obi-wan had been concerned. But before he’d managed to ask Anakin what was going on, the blond had popped his metaphorical top and began shouting and ranting.

Obi-wan tipped his head to one side, listening carefully. He still wasn’t certain why this couldn’t have been a civil conversation instead of a one-sided screaming match. Anakin had mentioned something about a relationship with Senator Amidala several times?

Anakin turned to face him, wild-eyed and shouting. “…and that’s why you should hate me! Because I love Padme and married her and betrayed the order and betrayed you!”

“Anakin. Anakin.” Obi-wan cut in, shoulders shaking with something between rage and hysterical laughter. If he had been anyone else, he may have said that he had no words. Being who he was, he had plenty of them for his padawan. “I have been married, to another jedi no less, for over two decades. I have a lover, whom who have seen me kiss more than once! What the sydehv!” He flung his arms out and began pacing, unable to contain himself.

Anakin gaped, completely flabbergasted.

“I sent you to the relationship and sex-ed classes like every other padawan! Twice, even, since you didn’t grow up in the creche and I know most of the galaxy has a different view on relationships than we do! Most of your age-mates have gone through the usual rotation of dating and sleeping with each other! Your mechanics mentor has literally kissed both their spouses in front of you multiple times! I have been married to my husband longer than you’ve been alive and never hid that relationship from you! Zhi leoah Dai, padawan, Master Windu is married to Master Koon. They shared a doh-tya in front of you, which I know you covered in class! Even if you missed that, did you somehow miss Master Fisto’s, well, everything? I have called Cody ankai’a multiple times where you could hear me. I have also literally made out with him in front of you!”

Anakin’s expression was mulish, as he, as usual, picked exactly the wrong thing to focus on. “No, you haven’t. I would have seen that.”

Obi-wan simply flipped back the sleeve of his robe and began pressing buttons on his vambrace. “I. Have. Pictures.”

He began displaying a series of pictures showing him and Cody kissing, with various degrees of fervour. Several of them had Anakin in the background, sometimes just there but frequently looking in the right direction. Mace Windu and Plo Koon were also present for more than one picture, looking at the pair with exasperation or fondness or both. In one of the pictures, they were even sharing the aforementioned doh-tya. Several of the troopers were evidently cheering both couples on.

Anakin slumped backwards against the wall, still staring at the images. His facial expression and Force signature were both radiating shock and hurt. His hands threaded into his hair, clenching hard enough that Obi-wan could see the skin whitening across his knuckles on his flesh hand.

Obi-wan’s indignation slowly seeped away as he watched his padawan on the floor, replaced by concern.

“Anakin?”

The blond’s Force signature was a chaotic, swirling mess. Obi-wan hadn’t seen it like this since the time his padawan’s mother was almost killed by Tusken Raiders. Cliegg Lars had sent Anakin a distress message when she had been kidnapped, and Obi-wan had come running at his padawan’s clearly broadcasted distress. She had been rescued by Quinlan, who had been on planet at the time, but it had been a bad few days until they got word.

Anakin looked almost as bad now as he had then, face white and arms shaking slightly.

“Jaieh,” Anakin choked out. “Jaieh, I think there’s something wrong with my head.”

Obi-wan was on the floor beside him immediately, wrapping Anakin in his arms as he simultaneously wrapped his mind in his shields, just as he had done when Anakin was new to the temple and struggling. Anakin’s shields were spotty and cracked, and the mind beneath confused and hurt in more way than one. He tugged hard on his mental bond with Quinlan as well, pulling on the braid of loyalty and affection deep within his mind, as he knew his husband was in the temple and would come running at such a summons.

“Tamah uu nev valrael keel, im nev xariel, Anakin.” The redhead cradled his padawan, feeling silent tears soaking into his robes. Anakin rarely, if ever, cried, taught as he was the importance of water on Tatooine. “I won’t let you go, not for this, not for anything.” He began humming the lullabies they all learned in the creche, soft tunes of home and comfort. “I can feel your pain, my dear. Now that we know there’s something wrong, I can help.”

Anakin was muttering something, and Obi-wan tipped his head down to hear what it was.

“Heleo. Heleo, Jaieh.”

Obi-wan let out a breath, wrapped Anakin tighter in his grip. “I’ve got you, Anakin. We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

And then he would burn to the ground whoever had done this to his padawan and spread their ashes across several flaming suns.

He continued humming, wrapping his padawan in love and comfort.

A beep from the corridor, and the door to his rooms slid open. Obi-wan had sensed Quinlan approaching rapidly a few halls away, and sent a mental impression of safe but worried to give him a more detailed heads up.

Quin had sent what was essentially swear words in return.

Obi-wan may have deserved that. The last time he’d pulled on their bond like that, well, it didn’t bear thinking about. It had not been a good time, needless to say, for anyone involved.

Quin strode into the room, dark eyes flickering about and taking in the situation. He slid to his knees beside Obi-wan, close enough that he could feel his body heat, and the redhead ran a hand through his padawan’s hair to keep him calm.

The tears had stopped, but Anakin had grown tense at the sound of the door. He melted again at the hand through his hair, and tucked his face deeper into Obi-wan’s shoulder.

“Okay, celo, what’s wrong?”

Obi-wan always found Quin’s deep voice soothing, and now was no exception. He had his family with him now, at least part of it, and they would figure it out together. The redhead kept his voice low and did not stop the soothing motion of his hand.

“Anakin confronted me about his relationship with Senator Amidala. He believed that he was betraying both me and the Je’daii by having the relationship. I provided examples of why that wasn’t the case, including you and I, Cody and I, Kit, Anakin’s mechanics mentor, and even Mace and Plo. He reacted oddly, and then said he thinks there’s something wrong with his mind.”

Obi-wan shared a look with Quinlan, sending his deep concern and worry across their bond and receiving care and steadiness in return. He took a breath and continued.

“I currently have my shields wrapped around him, as his shields are cracked and in poor repair, and his mind and Force presence are both in turmoil and seem wounded.”

Quin hummed, his mental presence poking gently at Anakin’s mind through Obi-wan’s shields. No one else would have been able to get anywhere near that close, but, well, it was Quinlan.

He trusted Quinlan Vos more than anyone else and had for years.

Obi-wan continued to sooth Anakin as Quin continued to examine the damage done to Anakin’s mind. After a moment, he gasped and swore softly under his breath.

The redhead raised an eyebrow when the dark-haired kiffar made eye contact with him.

<It’s a Sith, celo. Maybe even the Sith Lord we’ve been hunting for so long.>

Obi-wan kept from flinching at Quin’s mental message only from sheer force of will. He took a deep breath as panic began to bubble up and pulled himself into the mindset he so often had to use in times of crisis. He saw Quin settle at that, as the panic he’d been feeling had evidently passed through their bond.  

“Anakin.” Obi-wan didn’t stop running his hand over his padawan’s head, but he did make sure that Anakin was awake and listening. “Quin did find something in your head. We’re going to put you to sleep so the healers can look at it, all right? We’ll help you figure it out.”

The blond clung closer for a long moment at that. “Aima, Jaieh?”

“Ikio, padawan mine.” Obi-wan felt his heart clench at the show of vulnerability from the young man who had long since stopped showing him any such thing.

Anakin nodded, face still buried in Obi-wan’s shoulder, and Quin reached for Anakin’s forehead.

“Calia.”

Anakin slumped into sleep, and Obi-wan immediately rose to his feet, cradling his padawan who felt much too light for his height.

“I’ll run ahead and brief the healers.” Quin held the door open. “Let them know what I saw. I’ll make them believe it if I have to.”

Obi-wan moved out into the hall, clinging to the bond where Quin was pouring strength and support to. He met his husband’s eyes.

“Be quick, Quin. I’ll be right behind you.”

Chapter Text

Master Che met him at the doors to the Healing Halls, a hand reaching for Anakin’s forehead even as she guided him into one of the shielded rooms.

Obi-wan could feel Quin hovering somewhere just out of his eyeline even as the majority of his attention remained on his far-too-light padawan and the sleep suggestion he was holding in place as he settled the blond into bed.

Master Che very clearly and rapidly dictated what seemed like an overwhelming series of orders to the healers and padawan-healers bustling within the room. Obi-wan only caught a few of them, mainly regarding monitoring equipment and sedation.

A hand touched his arm. “Obi-wan. Come now, Obi-wan. I’ve got him.”

Obi-wan looked up at the blue Twi’lek who still had a gentle hand on his arm.

“His shields,” Obi-wan said, feeling unmoored. “I’m holding his shields in place. They’re a disaster.”

Master Che smiled calmly. “I’ve got them, Obi-wan. Can’t you feel me? Ikio, Obi-wan. I’ve got him.”

The redhead’s eyes widened as the feeling of Master Che’s shields surrounding his own finally sunk in. Her shields were formidable; deep calm waters hiding deeper dangers.

Obi-wan pulled himself together. He couldn’t break down here, not where Anakin could feel him. He could trust Master Che. Regardless of his personal dislike of the Healing Halls, and indeed healers and medics in general, he trusted Master Che, and had since she had helped him put his own shields up as an initiate.

He nodded, releasing the shields he was holding around Anakin’s mind with a careful, deliberate release of breath. He lingered long enough to feel Master Che’s shields slide in closer, enclosing Anakin within them, before he pulled back into himself, straightening his spine as he did so.  

The Master Healer ushered him gently out into the hallway and the door slid shut behind him.

Obi-wan crumbled, legs losing all strength as soon as the door slid home.

Quin’s arms were there to catch him as he fell, as they ever were. As they ever had been.

Obi-wan was barely aware of his husband arranging the two of them on the floor against a wall and pulling the redhead onto his lap. Tears poured down his face and his keening would have been ear-piercing if he could manage to get any air into his lungs.

He wept, anchored only by the tight grip he had on Quin’s shirt, Quin’s arms around him, and the grief- and rage-tinged support and assurance pouring down their bond.

He could tell, vaguely, that he was causing a severe amount of worry for his other two bondmates who didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t even have the energy to try and reassure them or close their bonds down.  

His padawan, his child, whom he had raised for over a decade, had had his mind near destroyed by a Sith lord in such a systematic manner that it must have taken years, and he hadn’t known.

He hadn’t noticed.

Oh Force, he hadn’t noticed.

Obi-wan’s breathing hitched in an attempt to get in some air, and it brought his mind back enough that he could feel a hand rubbing his back in steady circles.

That….wasn’t Quin’s hand?

Both of Quin’s arms were still wrapped tightly around him, rocking him ever so slightly back and forth.

Obi-wan fought his way out of the grief sucking him down enough to try and figure who was there.

Oh.

It was Cody.

Cody was there.

Now that he was a bit more aware, Obi-wan could feel the carefully focused love and support coming down the devotion-and-protectiveness bond that was Cody in his mind. Both Cody and Fox had worked for months to be able to project emotions down a bond the way that came naturally to those raised with the Je’daii. Both had been inordinately proud of themselves when they had accomplished it, and the resulting argument about who had managed it first had lasted three hours.

(It had been Cody, by only a few seconds, but both Quin and Obi-wan refused to tell the two of them that, if only for sheer entertainment value.)

Obi-wan took his first deep breath in several minutes, a long, shuddering thing.

The hand rubbing his back paused for a second, before continuing its motion.

Obi-wan shook his head, clearing his mind enough to be able to hear Quin’s quiet murmuring and Cody’s equally quiet responses. He pulled in another long, slow, careful breath, using the familiar motion to settle his roiling emotions and double check his shields, skimming a gentle touch along the familiar presence of Quin’s shields wrapped around his.

He could feel Quin’s relief as he pulled himself out of his grief and settled back into himself.

Twisting on Quin’s lap, Obi-wan turned so he could see Cody while still keeping close to Quin.

Obi-wan found a small, reassuring smile as he saw the familiar concerned look on Cody’s face.

Cody smiled back despite the worry in his amber eyes.

The redhead reached out and cupped his lover’s face, Cody leaning into the gesture slightly.

“I’m all right, ankai’a. This whole situation with Anakin simply got to me a bit.”

Quin’s snort of disbelief rumbled through his chest even as Cody tipped his head a bit and kissed Obi-wan’s palm.

“That’s bullshit, cyare.” Cody reached out and ran a calloused hand down the side of Obi-wan’s face. “He’s your padawan, it got to you more than a little bit.”

“But-” Cody’s stern look cut off whatever it was Obi-wan had opened his mouth to say.

“But that’s okay. Reasonable, even. And now that we know there’s a problem, we can help fix it.”

Obi-wan snorted, then giggled, the sound still a bit watery. “That’s near exactly what I told Anakin.”

Cody raised an eyebrow, and Quin spoke up. “Don’t listen to your own advice much, do you?”

The redhead slapped at Quin’s arm, still wrapped around him, as Cody grinned.  

The grin faded off Cody’s face, and he shifted to balance on his toes instead of sitting on the floor. “We need to go find Fox and fill him in. I commed him when Quin got a hold of me, but all I told him was that something had happened with Anakin, Obi-wan was physically fine, and that Quin and I were with you.”

Quin’s arms tightened as Obi-wan shifted, apparently unwilling to let him go just yet. “His bond’s been pretty muted as well. Which isn’t unusual when he’s at work, but still…”

Obi-wan agreed with Quin’s assessment. They needed to go to Fox and fill him in. This was a situation that would require their entire family to get through, and he didn’t want Fox to feel like they were cutting him out. He had gotten strong bursts of emotion from his bond with Fox when he had initially started panicking, but the warmth-and-constancy bond had since gone deliberately silent and muffled.

The redhead took a deep breath, preparing himself to get up and start moving. Quin’s arms tightened around him for a moment.

“Master Che’s got him, celo. She knows what she’s doing, and he’s safe here.”

“I know, tal, I know.” Obi-wan twisted so he could look up into dark eyes framed with gold. “But my bad feeling from earlier hasn’t gone away yet. I’m concerned that this isn’t over just yet.”

Chapter Text

The trip to the Senate Dome felt as though it took ages. Obi-wan stared out the window as Quin piloted with his usual recklessness and Cody bitched at him for it, the tall buildings and other speeders and transports blurring together into a meaningless stream of colour.

The bad feeling hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was only growing stronger the closer they got to their destination. The last time Obi-wan had had a bad feeling this strong, it had been just before Naboo, where they fought the Sith and Master Jinn had died by a red blade.

Obi-wan wondered what it meant even as he shored up his shields. Whatever was coming, he couldn’t be incapacitated by grief. His emotions could wait until later, until he had time.

Not that he ever really had time, what with the seemingly endless war.

When they finally did arrive at the Senate Dome, the trio made their way into the building, faces and postures careful masks perfected over years of necessity.

Cody and Quinlan flanked Obi-wan, and he appreciated the unspoken support as he nodded to various Senators and mostly just tried to keep moving.

Cody had a tracker on Fox, just as Fox did on him and both had trackers on their two Jedi. Said Jedi didn’t need the trackers, their bonds were strong enough that they were able to make their way through the maze of corridors and lifts to where they knew Fox was.

Obi-wan led the way in a light daze, focusing mainly on Fox to keep going, regardless of the fact that Fox still had his emotions locked down. Obi-wan wasn’t worried, they had thrown rather a lot of emotions at the poor man, and he wasn’t exactly allowed to leave work to come check on them.

The redhead huffed at the reminder of the clones’ lack of rights. He was working on a series of bills to pass through the Senate that would give them those rights without outright shouting across the galaxy. The repeated failures of the Senators’ Clone Rights Bill was evidence enough that that particular route would be highly ineffective in the corrupt Senate.

But, as with everything else, he never had enough time.

The trio had just stepped out of the lift and onto the correct floor where Fox was when Obi-wan’s focus shattered as his bond with Fox exploded with terror and rage.

Obi-wan cried out, clutching at his head, barely able to note that Quinlan seemed to be doing the same and that Cody was slightly more than mildly frantic.

When the initial shock passed, though the terror spilling over the bond had not abated at all, both Obi-wan and Quinlan broke into a full sprint, Cody following behind them without needing an explanation.

It was only several seconds later, when Obi-wan had slipped enough into a combat headspace to be able to compartmentalize the bond shrieking inside his head, did he notice the Force also roiling and shrieking a warning.

He ran faster.

As they got closer to where Fox was, less than a room away, Obi-wan noted absently that they seemed to be in the Chancellor’s office suite.

Then he noted, less absently, that they were headed straight for the Chancellor’s office, and that there were none of the usual guards or secretary within the outer room.

They burst into the Chancellor’s office to find pure and total chaos.

The room was absolutely trashed. Gouges and burns littered the walls, ceiling, and floor. Furniture was thrown about the room, crushed, and broken to pieces. Various decorative items were smashed and embedded in the walls. Obi-wan was fairly certain that the only reason the windows weren’t broken was because they were blaster- and shockproof transperisteel.

And there, in the middle of it all, stood Fox.

Over the Chancellor’s dead body.

Pointing a blaster pistol straight at the three of them.

Cody immediately stepped in front of the two jedi, hands out but stance wary.

“Hey, easy vod. Easy. Udesii, Fox. It’s just me; it’s Cody.”

Fox’s blank face tilted slightly so it was facing towards Cody, though his eyes remained unfocused. The blaster moved as well, but dipped, Fox seemingly unable to point it at Cody even in this state.

The fact that he could see Fox’s face hit Obi-wan with a shock. The man never took his helmet off within the Senate Dome, or while on duty. Never.

What had happened?!?!

A gentle nudge from Quinlan brought Obi-wan back into focus, just in time to be able to catch the string of impressions from Cody.

Worry-notsafe?-pleasehelp-eyesup

At his request, Obi-wan and Quinlan split up to search the room, both keeping a careful eye on the pair of clones, who had not yet moved much: Fox’s grip on the blaster still tight and Cody’s careful murmuring.

A search of the room only confirmed Obi-wan’s initial assessment of the damage done. The place was practically destroyed.

The streaks of blood littered throughout were significantly distressing.

As was the absolutely petrified shiny Obi-wan found curled up in the tightest ball possible in a corner underneath an upturned chair.

The half-second of shock brought an alert Quinlan moving over to his side, and the Jedi shared a weighted look.

Obi-wan settled onto his heels slightly more than arms’ reach away from the shiny. Panic was a brutal thing, and he didn’t want to add guilt or yet more fear to the roiling mass of terror that was the young clone in the Force.

“Hello there.”

Even through the tenseness of the situation and the building worry about their fourth partner, Obi-wan still felt the faintest echoes of Quin’s laughter at his opening remark.

The shiny only flinched.

Obi-wan’s heart sank. That was not a promising start. He opened his mouth to try again when a light touch to his shoulder redirected his attention.

He looked up to see Cody standing above him with Fox close behind him. Cody signed for him to move back, and Obi-wan followed immediately, trusting Cody’s judgement and assessment of his fellow clones.

Oddly enough, Cody stepped away as well, leaving a large empty space in front of the shiny that Fox moved in to.

When Obi-wan prodded at his bond with Fox, the warmth-and-constancy strand was still firmly muffled from Fox’s end.

It made Obi-wan’s heart ache and the low-grade fear that he couldn’t release into the Force flare up again, prompting a surge of comfort from Quinlan.

Fox crouched in front of the shiny and, without a word, reached out to tap on the other clone’s chest plate. The shiny flinched at the initial touch, but it didn’t deter Fox. He simply continued to tap at the plastoid in what was clearly a message pattern.

Obi-wan knew that the clones had formed their own tap-based language, and had respected that. The vode as a whole had so little that was purely their own, and the standardized sign language was sufficient while in the field.   

He had never asked either of his partners to explain, never willing to ask them to bare the truth of what was clearly one of the few things the vode as a whole held close.

The room was full of a heavy silence, the only sounds the rapid breathing of the shiny and the tapping of Fox’s fingers against his armour.

Obi-wan was willing to wait as long as his partner needed him to.

Chapter Text

It only took a few moments until the younger clone had uncurled from his tight position, Fox never letting up on the tapping.

Obi-wan and Quinlan moved to the other side of the room at a hand-sign from Cody.

“Xahx.”

Ah yes. Obi-wan had also forgotten about the fact that the Chancellor’s body was there.

In his office.

Dead.

With only Fox and the shiny also present.

Obi-wan met Quin’s eyes, a shared feeling of determination reverberating back and forth along their bond. They needed to find out what had happened, and then figure out what they were going to do next.

They split up, well used to investigating as a pair. Quinlan went for the body and Obi-wan for the Chancellor’s desk.

A moment of hesitance from the one bond that Obi-wan was not trying to give some privacy brought his head up from the day planner laid out on the desk.

His husband was worrying at his lower lips, fingers tapping together. Obi-wan knew that tic.

<Shet, tal.>

Quin’s head tipped in his direction.

<Foriben. I can’t bear to have you overwhelmed right now.>

Obi-wan allowed part of the roiling terror inside of him to pass along their bond before battening down his emotional shields once more.

Their bond was one of the only things keeping him on his feet at the moment. If Quin used his psychometry and found something that dragged him under, he could well drag Obi-wan down with him at the moment.

Loyalty-and-affection swelled with comfort, and Obi-wan closed his eyes, pulling in a deep breath.

Im tumi tamah soo’yth, ji xai enoah kai’an.

He opened his eyes again and continued perusing the Chancellor’s schedule, using careful Force touches only to avoid contaminating the scene.

Flipping to the next page, Obi-wan froze. Leaning closer, he read and re-read the entry closely.

Zhi leoah Dai!

Did….did the Chancellor legitimately have a holomeeting with General Grievous written into his day planner?!?!

With a note that said, ‘to plan next CIS attack’!?!?

Quin appeared at his side, drawn by his shock. Obi-wan turned wide eyes to his husband and gestured limply at the day planner.

The Kiffar bent over, dreadlocks falling over his shoulders but never touching the desk.

Obi-wan felt the moment that Quin read the entry, shock echoing bright and sharp across their bond. The pair locked eyes, realizations falling into place like dominoes.

The Chancellor had been the Sith Lord.

He had been playing both sides of the war against each other, and he had almost won.

And he- Obi-wan faltered as he caught side of his other two bond-mates consoling the shiny, whom they had managed to get to their feet and were talking softly to.

And he had had Fox at his immediate disposal for the entire duration of the war.

Quin had him wrapped in his arms before his knees gave out.

<Deep breaths, celo. Deep breaths.>

Obi-wan struggled to stay as quiet as he could, sucking in deep breaths, and letting Quinlan cover him physically with his arms and mentally with his shields.

This was not the time or place to have another breakdown. It wasn't safe.

The redhead got his feet under him, Quin leaning down enough to give a kov’nyn. Obi-wan breathed in deeply, feeding Quin back some of the strength he was receiving from the darker man.

Feedback loops were sometimes useful.

Obi-wan knew that Quin knew what he had realized, but also that his husband was correct. This was not the time or place. They needed to get both Fox and the shiny with him to the healers, and then they needed to contact the Council to come up with a plan.

Fortunately, the Chancellor’s Day planner seemed to be excellent evidence for high treason, and Fox, as a Commander of the GAR, was well within his rights to defend himself against someone committing baukaljung.

The senate and public would take issue with it because he was a clone, but that was the law. One of the few times it was deemed ‘permissible’ (and how Obi-wan hated that term) for a clone to injure a natborn.

They just had to make certain the Je’daii had control of the situation, and not anybody else.

Obi-wan stepped back from his husband, who moved over to the desk and continued flipping through the day planner and other paperwork. As valehnan, Quin was certainly qualified to begin this sort of investigation.

It was his job to get Fox and the shiny safely to the healers and then to get the Council here.

The redhead positioned himself so he was in view of both Fox and Cody, but not the shiny, and tugged on Cody’s bond to get his attention before signing a few words.

Notsafe-medics-home-both.

Cody nodded his understanding.

Fox didn’t appear to care one way or another, which worried Obi-wan more than he wanted to admit. He always threw a fit about having to go to the healers or medics.

Stepping to the main doors, and then just outside, carefully ensuring they were shut behind him, Obi-wan pulled out his comm. He messaged the Council, adding the code words to ensure they knew to drop everything and come immediately, and that it was regarding the Sith. Then he contacted Healer Che, letting her know that there were patients, vode, that needed help, and that it had been Sith. She responded right away, saying she was sending a full team his way.

He didn’t answer any of the messages that immediately flooded his comm with questions. There was no point in addressing anything until everyone was in front of him and could see it with their own eyes.

A tug on the strand of devotion-and-protectiveness within his mind caught his attention, and he was not entirely certain what safe-reinforcements-incoming meant until he heard footsteps.

He tensed for a moment, almost going for his lightsabers, before he realized that they were vode coming around the corner.

Ah. Cody must had called for them, since that was Fox’s aide in addition to a full squad.

Commander Stone came to a stop in front of him and threw a proper salute. “General.”

“Commander Stone,” Obi-wan replied with a nod. “There’s been…. an incident regarding the Chancellor. Fox is physically unhurt. Secure this room, and the surrounding areas and hallways if you can manage it. Do not allow anyone other than the Council entrance.”

“Yes sir.” Commander Stone turned to his men and began issuing orders.

Obi-wan could see that all the vode were mostly concerned and slightly curious, though they had definitely been reassured by the fact that Fox was physically unharmed.

Not totally, and Obi-wan would be willing to bet that these men, out of the entire GAR, knew that sometimes mental harm was worse than physical.

He turned to Fox’s aide, Nykos.

“I need you to run interference. People are going to want to ask questions, and try and get in contact with the Chancellor, and want to know what so many Je’daii are doing here. I need you to stall and redirect their attention in any way possible. There will be an emergency meeting going on in that office, if that helps you any.”

The vod nodded. “Can do, General.” He tipped his head towards the desk beside the doors to the Chancellor’s office. “I’ll set up camp there.” A wicked smirk appeared on his face. “I have plenty of practice with di’kut senators and such.”

Obi-wan inclined his head in thanks before turning and slipping back into the main office.