#series:your hands protect the flame

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FIC: We're Not Gonna Fall ~ Star Wars ~ Your Hands Protect the Flame 'Verse ~ Fox/Obi-Wan ~ Mature

Title: We're Not Gonna Fall Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Era Series: Your Hands Protect the Flame Author: Batsutousai Rating: Mature Pairing: Commander Fox/Obi-Wan Kenobi Warnings: Alternate Universe, Jedi Shadow!Obi-Wan, Jedi culture, non-binary clone troopers, trans clone troopers, clones and Jedi as found family, injury & gore, violence, slavery rings, enslavement, minor character death, torture (emotional, physical, and sexual, mostly off-screen), dead dove: do not eat, switching point of views, happy ending Summary: Ahsoka Tano gets separated from her master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and other senior Jedi during a mission that turned out to be far more dangerous than any of them had expected. Is an unexpected alliance the key to getting them all home safely? Sequel to To Be Free Once More (That's Worth Fighting For).

When throwing up hadn't helped, Hondo found himself some alcohol. And, by 'some', he meant a lot. That said, he didn't even make it through his second glass, before it occurred to him that Ashla hadn't been with Ben. Neither had the oversized, medically-inclined clone, Baar. There was a widely-known caution, in the criminal world, that, if you want to take off with a young Jedi, you had best make very kriffing certain that any adult Jedi who might come looking for them were very dead, or you were going to be the one very dead. Hondo wasn't about to contest that warning. However, he'd started noticing—since he'd begun paying a bit more attention to the stories of Jedi that reached his corner of the galaxy—that the reverse also seemed to be true, especially since the war's end, and the wide-spread rumours that Jedi no longer left Coruscant without at least one clone at their back. The only Jedi contact that Hondo had—to his knowledge; he honestly wouldn't put it past the sneaky bastards to find another couple on the list of smugglers, pirates, and bounty hunters he was on something approaching friendly terms with—was Ben. He didn't have any way to call for help, when Ben was the one in deep shit, and the Ohnaka Gang were pirates, not fighters; they couldn't stand against the creepy umbaran and her lightning fingers, not with the number of beings who answered to her. But. Hondo did have the frequency for Ben's ship. If Ashla and Baar were aboard it, he could get them word, and they could handle calling down a Jedi or clone strike force. If they weren't on that ship... Hondo would betray a lot of his very flexible morals for the right price, but leaving someone he honestly liked and considered a friend to be tortured and enslaved was not something he could stomach. Even if staying would mean he would end up tortured or killed himself. Well, if he was lucky, Barb wouldn't decide that he much preferred holding on to his new position as leader of the Ohnaka Gang, over endangering all of them in some suicide run to rescue Hondo and Ben. Or, if he did decide to betray Hondo, he would at least do the bare minimum of getting the word out that there were Jedi captured and being held to torture on the planet Korriban. He sighed and knocked back the last of his second glass, then got up to find a comm or three to steal.

You can read it here, on Archive of Our Own!

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[FIC] To Be Free Once More (That's Worth Fighting For) ~ Star Wars: Prequels ~ Fox/Obi-Wan ~ Mature ~ Ch 15/15 COMPLETE

Title: To Be Free Once More (That's Worth Fighting For) Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Era Series: Your Hands Protect the Flame Author: Batsutousai Rating: Mature Warnings: Alternate Universe, Qui-Gon survives, Jedi Shadow!Obi-Wan, Jedi culture positive, Coruscant Guard deserve better, clone trooper dehumanisation, institutional abuse, discrimination, learning to trust, Jedi and clone trooper relationships, strangers to friends to lovers, idiots in love, trans/nonbinary/agender clone troopers, trans/nonbinary/agender Jedi, character deaths (Palpatine, some Corries, offscreen Jedi OCs; more detail in notes of relevant chapters) Summary: As a Jedi Shadow, Obi-Wan hadn't expected to have much to do with the clone troopers. Until, suddenly, he does.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

He didn't have long to relax into the comfort of the sound of Fox's laughter, because then they said, "Speaking of padawans, I heard you were thinking to...how do Jedi say it? Not 'adopt', right?"

"Who told?" Obi-Wan demanded.

Fox tapped their helmet, where it was set next to them on the ground. "It was in command chat," they admitted.

Obi-Wan groaned and rubbed at his face, because, okay, yeah, he...probably should have suspected something like that. "We would say 'take a padawan'," he offered a bit helplessly, "but there's more involved than just pointing to a padawan and saying 'that one is mine, now'."

"You have to ask them," Fox said, not quite a question.

"I do, and they would have the right to say 'no'. So, too, would their crèchemaster or the Council of Reassignment, if concerns were brought to them about our compatibility or either of our conduct." He sighed. "And, because I'm a shadow, the Master of Shadows has the final say about my taking a padawan, although I don't think she'll take any issue, beyond being much stricter about what missions I'm allowed to take."

Fox nodded, brow furrowed. "Is any of that...likely to be a problem?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Unlikely. There might be some concern, about her being my first padawan, but, well, I did help Quin with Aayla a fair bit, and Yoda's been trying to get me to take a padawan for a few years. Which isn't to say it's a sure thing, but he wouldn't be pushing if he thought the Council of Reassignment would refuse my bid for a padawan because of my recent conduct."

Fox nodded again, then looked up and met Obi-Wan's gaze. "Then...why are you worried?"

Obi-Wan felt his mouth turn with a smile that felt slightly strained. "It's..." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his mouth. "You're...probably going to say it's stupid."

Fox squinted at him. "Is it?" they asked.

Obi-Wan made a face—he probably deserved that—then hesitantly admitted, "I didn't want to ask her, only for it to turn out you two didn't get along."

Fox blinked once, twice, and then warm embarrassment filled their bond, and they ducked their head. "Oh," they said, and cleared their throat.

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[FIC] Need a Second to Breathe ~ Star Wars Prequels ~ Mature

Title: Need a Second to Breathe Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Era Series: Your Hands Protect the Flame Author: Batsutousai Rating: Mature Pairing: Commander Fox/Obi-Wan Kenobi Warnings: Alternate Universe, Jedi Shadow!Obi-Wan, Coruscant Guard deserve better, mentions of abuse, chip activation, trans/nonbinary/agender clone troopers, mention of clone trooper decommissioning and reconditioning, Jedi and clone trooper relationships, character death (except turns out they weren’t all dead), grief, reunions, Force-sensitive clone troopers Summary: No member of the Guard had completely unpainted armour, so Carver was immediately suspicious when three of them came into his medbay. And then he was relieved. Side-story of To Be Free Once More (That's Worth Fighting For).

Given how many of the Guard had been sneaking over for something to help them sleep or focus right before their shift, Carver wasn't surprised for someone to come into the medbay without any warnings of incoming wounded on comms. He was, surprised, however, to find three troopers in completely white armour, because no member of the Guard left the barracks without their armour painted.

(It was too easy for the natborns to spot them, to recognise them as new and easy prey; in the Guard, the act of 'earning your paint', which the rest of the GAR so determinedly held to, had about an eighty percent chance of them being psychologically or physically tortured for 'fun', forced to do something they didn't want to do, or ordered sent back to Kamino for decommissioning or reconditioning. Or just outright murdered, in about five percent of cases. It was also why the Guard had flat out refused the few times, since the Senate vote, that a GAR battalion on planet had offered them use of some of their troopers.)

"Who the kriff—?" Carver started, shoving up from his seat.

"Udesii, Carv'ika," ordered the one bringing up the rear, who looked bigger than the other two in a way that you didn't see away from Kamino.

There were only so many beings who would dare to call Carver that, and only one who would do so with such fond exasperation, and he honestly started to think that the stress had finally got to him.

Except, Baar was pulling off his helmet, and so were Stone and Trig, and Carver felt his knees turn to water, had to sit down before he fell down.

Stone and Trig held back, leaving it for Baar to approach, to eye him for a moment, the same he had done throughout Carver's training, leaving him feeling naked and half his age, questioning his own capabilities.

And then Baar leant in, forehead to the crest of Carver's helmet, and said, "Su'cuy," tone dry.

Read it on Archive of Our Own!

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[FIC] To Be Free Once More (That's Worth Fighting For) ~ Star Wars: Prequels ~ Fox/Obi-Wan ~ Mature ~ Ch 14/15

Title: To Be Free Once More (That's Worth Fighting For) Fandom: Star Wars Prequel Era Series: Your Hands Protect the Flame Author: Batsutousai Rating: Mature Warnings: Alternate Universe, Qui-Gon survives, Jedi Shadow!Obi-Wan, Jedi culture positive, Coruscant Guard deserve better, clone trooper dehumanisation, institutional abuse, discrimination, learning to trust, Jedi and clone trooper relationships, strangers to friends to lovers, idiots in love, trans/nonbinary/agender clone troopers, trans/nonbinary/agender Jedi, character deaths (Palpatine, some Corries, offscreen Jedi OCs; more detail in notes of relevant chapters) Summary: As a Jedi Shadow, Obi-Wan hadn't expected to have much to do with the clone troopers. Until, suddenly, he does.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Palpatine was well-placed, when Obi-Wan found them, held up by a varied group of senators and their attendants, with two cam-droids hovering with interest around the scene, clearly recording some flavour of political drama that was relevant to the interests of those who kept better tabs on the Senate's activities than Obi-Wan.

He wasn't certain what gave him away, but Palpatine's head jerked up and around, kind smile vanishing behind a show of surprise.

"Sheev Palpatine," Obi-Wan called across the space separating them, tried not to notice Fox's head jerking up and around, or the way their Force-presence filled with a desperate hope, "you're under arrest for multiple counts of treason against the Galactic Republic."

Palpatine's expression twisted with rage for a heartbeat, before he got it under control. "Knight Kenobi," he bit out. "I'd heard you'd died."

"No," Obi-Wan returned, flashing a sharp smile. "I'm afraid your little plot to murder Count Dooku on the way back from Florrum failed. He was quite happy to tell me all about how you've been passing him information about GAR movements."

The senators, their aides, and other beings who happened to be in the hallway had all shuffled back, leaving Palpatine standing alone, only Fox remaining at his side, while the cam-droids had multiplied, and other Jedi and troopers had joined the audience.

"The lies of a man desperate to–" Palpatine started.

"We found your secret office," Even interrupted, as he and Mace stepped forward to bracket Obi-Wan. "Both the one with the comm you've been using to speak with him, Nute Gunray, and other known leaders of the Separatists, and the one in the warehouse with two escape crafts and a small army of droids."

Obi-Wan could almost sense Palpatine's mind racing, weighing the likelihood of him managing to convince anyone of his innocence.

And then he smiled, just a little sharp, and said, "Execute Order Thirty-seven."

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