#and we could go with the obvious route there and say morgana pendragon love of my life fucking destroy me

[sandinthepipes]

Yes, redemption arcs are good, but have you ever heard of corruption arcs?

[teaspacebar]

war of hearts part v: drinks, family, and wanting

summary: cody has drinks with his boys, you have some family bonding time, and you and cody finally get a moment to yourselves.

words: 2.2k+

beta: @ambereyesandwine​

taglist (open): @morganas-pendragons​ @deathlessdays​ @obiorbenkenobi​  @painkiller80 @abovethyfold @the-lady-of-stars @my-own-oracle​

a/n: i love this part so much!! i’m bringing in more canon information to actually get a timeline down so you can see where in the clone wars story we are! i hope you all enjoy!

masterlist

When Cody went to 79’s – which was very little – he usually ended up in a shared booth with Wolffe, Rex, and Maverick. Each of the boys would spend time with their respective squad before eventually making their way to the back corner. It had the best view of the whole place and allowed them to keep eyes on their boys without hovering.

“You look jumpier than normal,” Rex commented, taking a sip from his beer.

“He’s waiting for the Commander,” Maverick replied, covering his chuckle with a cough at Cody’s glare.

Wolffe raised an eyebrow, “Yours?” At Maverick’s nod he continued, “She’s the one that stopped a civil war breakin’ out by teaching them how to make bread?” Cody tried to keep a smile off his face – he could picture the scene in his head. “She gave General Plo Koon a whole basket a’ baked goods the other day. Should’a seen her face when he said he can’t eat that kind a’ food.”

“She’s coming to 79’s, then? She’ll be recognized right away,” Rex said.

Maverick shrugged, “She doesn’t wear her robes much, plus the rest of my boys wouldn’t hesitate to start a fight if anyone gave her a hard time.”

Cody gave a quick nod in Maverick’s direction. He had grown comfortable with the Captain – the man had a good head on his shoulders and worked well with you – and Cody was glad to have the Juno Squadron looking out for you.

Cheers erupted from the bar, and Cody watched as several men crossed the room in the direction of the entrance. “Speak of the Jedi and they shall appear,” Wolffe leaned back into the booth.

Cody followed the moving figures until he saw your familiar form. You were wearing simple, black clothes – your robes gone, just like Maverick had said. He watched you glow, your smile shining so brightly he thought his chest might burst. You greeted the Juno boys, receiving hugs from Bailey and Ziggy. A drink was pushed into your hands by Flare, grin on his face. It took Cody a moment to realize that you were staring back at him. You broke the gaze momentarily to say something to Salem, who gave a nod in response.

“Aaaaand she’s coming over.” Rex clapped him on the shoulder, “I’m going to grab another drink.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Wolffe smirked, leaving the booth with Rex.

You came strolling up a few seconds later, “Did I scare the party away?”  

“It’s because you’re obviously intimidating,” Maverick answered, chuckling when you poked him in the side. “I’ll go make sure that Flare doesn’t start another fight.” He sent a wink at the two of you before heading to the center of the bar.

You slipped into the booth next to Cody, leg brushing his. “Hey,” you said softly, eyes catching his.

“Hi,” he murmured back. His heart leapt as you intertwined your hands underneath the table. You looked exhausted. “Everything alright?”

You nodded, swirling your drink in your hand, “Obi-Wan has had so many meetings with the Council recently. The Republic can’t seem to get anything done, but I can barely understand politics itself.”

“You’re stressed,” Cody offered. You hummed noncommittally, leaning your head on his shoulder. “You and Obi-Wan have more in common than differences I think.”

A snort escaped you, “Because we’re both stressed? There’s a war going on that I’m not sure we can win, there’s reason to be stressed.” You sighed, “Sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He pressed his lips to your hair, relishing in the small content sound that left your lips.

“I just want us to be able to just talk about things other than what we deal with every day.” You pulled away from him, smiling, “Like what were you and the boys talking about earlier?”

“Besides the war?” You rolled your eyes, giving him a pointed look as you swiped his drink from his hand. “It was ‘clone-talk’.”

“Mhm, right.” He loved the little perturbed look on your face. Your nose scrunched and your lips formed a perfect pout that he had the urge to kiss off.

No, he hadn’t kissed you again. Not since that night at the gala a month ago. And Cody was pretty sure the tension was getting to him. Any moment he had alone with you was interrupted. Not that there were many opportunities to be alone with you at all. Cody prided himself on being a patient man, but when it came to you, it was all thrown to the wind.

“Maybe I’ll go ask Wolffe, I can bribe him with more pastries.” Cody knew your threat wasn’t real because you snuggled up closer to his side.

“We should get you back to your room before you fall asleep at the table.”

“But I want to spend time with you,” your voice was muffled by his shirt.

“C’mon Pip, I’ll walk you and that’s how we’ll spend time together.” You pulled back quickly, blinking at him. Your mouth was open in a small ‘o’. “What?”

“You’ve never called me that before.”

Oh. He hadn’t, had he? He had called you by your name, but never by the term of endearment that the Juno Squadron – and even General Skywalker and Commander Tano – called you.

He started to apologize, but you placed your hand over his lips, “You can say it. It’s nice. More than nice, actually.” You lowered your hand back into his. “Walk with me?”

He didn’t think he could ever say no to you.

-

“Ahsoka!”

Said Padawan yelped in surprise as you all but tackled her from behind. Laughter bubbled up between the both of you as she carried you on her back with ease. She let you down, ducking away before you could poke her in the side.

“I heard you’re heading to Ilum with the younglings?”

Ahsoka nodded, “Yep, we’re leaving in a few days. You and Master Kenobi are leaving tomorrow, right?”

“We think we’ve found a lead on Grievous,” you answered. “Which is the most good news Obi-Wan has had in a while with…Maul being back,” you had lowered your voice to a whisper.

“Anakin’s been a little weird too,” Ahsoka mumbled back.

“I’ve been a little what, Snips?”

The both of you turned to see Anakin exiting a room – which now made sense as to why Ahsoka was just lingering in the hallway – with an eyebrow raised and his arms crossed.

“She said that I am far better at Dejarik than you.” You sidled up to Anakin, nudging him with your shoulder.

Anakin snorted, “Right, I’m sure.”

“I beat Obi-Wan.” You blinked innocently.

“…you did?”

You gave Ahsoka a look, which made you both burst out into another round of laughter.

“Should I be worried you three are causing trouble?” Obi-Wan entered the hallway from the same room Anakin had been in.

“No, Master,” the three of you responded, similar grins on your faces.

-

You were pacing the small length of the escape pod, unaware of two pairs of eyes that were on you. Ahsoka had been kidnapped by pirates. You knew that she could take care of herself, but you cared for the other Padawan like she was your younger sister. But the younglings were stranded – alone – without help.

Which the two men watching you knew set you on edge.

Obi-Wan spoke up first, “We will go after her as soon as we are picked up.” You felt the calm that he was pushing in your direction, and you let it wash over you. You spared a glance at Cody, who still had his helmet on. As you finally sat down next to him, his gloved hand brushed against yours. It was his way of checking in, to let you know that he was there even though he couldn’t be more obvious about it since your older brother figure who was also his commanding officer was less than three feet away from you.

“Thank you, Master.” You sent a small smile toward the Jedi.

Obi-Wan was always wonderful to you. You remembered a little from when you were a youngling yourself. It was always when Master Qui-Gon would visit. Obi-Wan would join him at times and you liked it when he read to you.

It had surprised you when he had bumped into you – or you, into him – at the Jedi Archives just a few years ago. It had surprised you even greater when he had taken you on as his Padawan. You were grateful for reasons you could not even begin to explain to him. One of which was also in the escape pod with you. There were so many moments you had wanted to talk to Obi-Wan about everything with Cody, but you had seen what he thought about Anakin’s feelings for Padme. You weren’t sure if Obi-Wan knew about their very real relationship and just chose to ignore it, or if he was in denial. Not that Anakin was great about hiding it.

“They’ll be able to get us in about an hour,” Obi-Wan said, leaning back in his seat.

“You didn’t happen to bring a game of Dejarik with you? Maybe they stowed one away in here?” You grinned as both men gave you a questioning look. “I may have told Anakin that I beat you at it.”

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, “Of course you did.”

“I beat you at Dejarik,” Cody pointed out.

You whined, “Yes but I beat all of the boys except for Maverick.” You pouted for a moment – the boys were glad that they had diverted your attention away from the stranded children – before your mischievous grin was back on your face. “So, when do I get to see the two of you play?”

-

A light ‘beep’ from your comms had you jumping up from your bed and unlocking the door. It slid open to reveal a de-armored Cody standing out in the hallway on the Republic Rescue Cruiser that had picked you up. You were in-route back to Coruscant with Ahsoka and the younglings in tow – all safe and sound. You had found a vacant room on the ship that gave you a bit of distance from everyone else. After spending some time with the younglings, you had sent Cody a message to meet you there later. Which was why he was in front of you now.

You grabbed his hand, pulling him inside with a soft, “Hello.”

“I slipped away as soon as I could, we never usually–” He was cut off by you kissing the Force out of him, his back pressed against the now closed door. His hands landed on your waist, a small moan leaving his lips. He pulled his head away, ignoring the small pain that goes through his skull as it hits the door, “Pip.”

“Shut up and kiss me,” you demanded, grabbing his face with your hands to draw his lips back to yours. You needed him. It had been something you were figuring out since your first kiss. Every time his hands brushed up against you or he sent you one of his crooked smiles, heat would crawl up your neck and make its home in your cheeks.

You knew that you loved Cody.

But wanting him was an entirely different battle.

And not one that you were worried about losing as you were ready to devour him. Cody gasped, and you realized the energy that was pulsating in the room. It was like how you felt in that small closet, no space between you – except this time Cody was feeling it with you. “Okay?” You mumbled against his lips, afraid to overwhelm him. His only response was to grab the backs of your thighs and lift you up so you could wrap your legs around his waist. You giggled, kissing him sweetly. He carried you to the small bed, sitting on it so you could straddle him. He ran a hand through your hair, running his thumb down the side of your face. His warm eyes were gentle, hard lines of his face softened into something that was just for you.

“I thought we were going to talk about it before we did anything else,” the words left his lips and you could tell he was almost disappointed in himself. You sighed, knowing that the logical part of his brain was correct. Everything with him just felt right. You started to lift yourself from his lap, but he tugged you back down.

You quirked an eyebrow, “If we’re going to talk, I can’t be sitting on you.”

Cody narrowed his eyes playfully, and you enjoyed the lightness that seemed to envelop him. “Am I that distracting?”

“Yes, Cody.” He finally let go, allowing you to get up and sit beside him on the bed. You looked at him expectantly.

“I-uh,” he cleared his throat, “you and me, we’re–”

“I care about you,” you said simply. It was the truth. There was much more to that, but you understood that Cody wasn’t great with words about feelings. “And I know that there are a bunch of regulations and expectations. But I care about you and I don’t want to lose this.” You touched his scar with the tips of your fingers, and Cody leaned into your hand.

“We’ll look out for each other,” Cody provided.

“Like we always do,” you finished, a yawn escaping you.

“You should sleep.” The deadpan look on your face had him chuckling and pressing a kiss to your forehead.

You easily switch from sitting to laying on the bed, “Stay with me?”

He was right.

He couldn’t say no to you.