Chapter Text
The sounds of blaster fire and exploding machinery surrounded the valley. The Separatists had driven them down the hillside and now had the upper ground. Surrendering now would mean giving up what they'd been working at for weeks; continuing to fight would mean losing at least a third of their unit. Obi-Wan Kenobi found himself at an impasse. He mulled over the options as he deflected the blaster shots somewhat distractedly.
A loud crash followed by a sudden heat on his face brought him back to the moment. The fire from an explosion burned a few feet away from him, turning droids into charred scraps. He briefly wondered what has caused the explosion, but a cheerful shout to his left told him the answer.
"Really, Anakin," Obi-Wan sighed.
"What?" The other jedi asked, shrugging. He looked smug, and Obi-Wan just shook his head.
They had been on the front line for the whole battle. While clones were excellent fighters, the advantage of a lead by a jedi couldn't be ignored. It had been like this for most of the fighting on Jabiim, and Obi-Wan was ready to be done with it all. His clothes were perpetually soaked and he doubted he would be able to get all of the mud out of his boots. It had been what felt like months since he'd had a comfortable night's sleep, and his muscles ached constantly. He wasn't built for fighting like this.
Anakin, on the other hand, never seemed to run out of energy. It was like he lived off the victories, turning a success into adrenaline. And he seemed to be getting better, even. His fighting skill were better and his battle tactics were increasingly creative. Obi-Wan was proud, even if he wished Anakin could have developed those skills in a safer, less violent way.
There was a sudden blur across his field of view, bringing his attention back to the battle. He parried a blaster shot back to its origin before turning to look at Obi-Wan.
"You should really pay more attention, Master." There was snark in his voice, but Obi-Wan could feel the quick release of relief through the training bond they never broke. "Letting your mind drift in battle?" Anakin said, twisting his lightsaber in his hands. "It's unbecoming of a jedi."
"And you'd know all about that," Obi-Wan sassed back. Anakin did have a point, though, beneath all the sarcasm, and Obi-Wan turned his thoughts outward to the fight. Anakin flipped his saber.
"Why of course," he smirked. "I am - "
"Anakin, look out!"
Time seemed to slow down. Anakin furrowed his brow at Obi-Wan in confusion as the blaster shot approached. Obi-Wan moved quickly, lightsaber at the ready, but the shot was faster. It collided with Anakin's shoulder, burning through robes and skin, as Obi-Wan rolled across the ground to him. There was a short cry of pain as Anakin fell to one knee and then the other, dropping his lightsaber in favor of gripping at his shoulder. Obi-Wan held his other shoulder, and Anakin looked up at him. The pain he could feel through the bond lessened as Anakin put up the shields.
"What...what are you doing?" Anakin asked through clenched teeth. "Shouldn't you be - ah," he broke off, wincing and biting the inside of his cheek. "Shouldn't you be fighting?"
Obi-Wan flicked his gaze between the rapidly darkening fabric on Anakin's shoulder to his pinched face, still in a short of shock. He shook his head.
"Right," he mumbled, standing back up in front of his former padawan.
The opposing force looked much more daunting now. The clones had filled in when Anakin and Obi-Wan had fallen back, but they weren't making much headway. Obi-Wan turned to Anakin for a brief moment, tossing him his comlink.
"Call the Endeavor. Order an evac."
"But Obi-Wan - "
"Do it, Anakin."
"Fine."
The comlink crackled to life, and Obi-Wan heard Anakin start the order, but the sounds of battle stole his focus. He deflected a dozen blaster shots, taking out as many droids, but he kept glancing towards Anakin. The color was draining quickly from his face, and based on the increased amount of pain seeping through their bond, his control was slipping too. Obi-Wan hoped the lift crew would arrive in time.
The lull in the fight wasn't going to last much longer, Obi-Wan mused, watching the waves of droids quickly approaching. Fighting them off was going to be much harder without a second jedi.
"Hold on, Anakin," Obi-Wan said softly. He didn't look to see if Anakin heard him. Instead, suddenly gripped with an idea, he kicked up Anakin's lightsaber from where it laid on the ground, catching and lighting it just as the first line of new droids began shooting.
It had been a long time since he had trained with dual sabers, and he had never used them in battle. He felt confident in his skill, though, and his feeling was backed up by performance. He spun around in a blue blur, sending shots back and cutting down droids faster than he could ever remember. He couldn't help but look back to Anakin more frequently than he should have. The other jedi had situated himself behind a falling sheet of durasteel, shielded from blaster fire, but obviously on the decline.
The wind picked up around him and the tell-tale sound of engines signaled the arrival of the evac. He shut off both lightsabers, jumping out of the fray and sliding in beside Anakin.
"Hey," he said, gently brushing his fingers across Anakin's forehead. Anakin's head turned, but his eyes stayed closed. "Let's get you out of here," Obi-Wan said. "I'm going to have to pick you up. Brace yourself."
He wasn't sure if Anakin heard him, but he picked him up all the same. He was much heavier than he used to be, height adding weight. Obi-Wan was as careful as he could be of Anakin's shoulder, and he winced when Anakin whined in pain.
The lack of fight, or even response, from Anakin worried him. He'd been around him long enough to know that Anakin stopped for nothing. He was much like inertia, the only thing able to stop him being a greater, opposite action.
More time must have passed than Obi-Wan realized. That, or Anakin's injury was much worse than it first looked.
Or both, he thought, with no small amount of apprehension, as he stepped about the transport. The liftoff was jerky, the ship taking a few hits. Obi-Wan did his best to keep Anakin stable, and Anakin curled in towards him, shielding his shoulder and pressing against Obi-Wan's chest.
"...didn't know you could fight Jar'kai," Anakin mumbled. Obi-Wan startled.
"I'm full of surprises," he said, smile tight and short-lived. "I didn't realize you were awake."
"'M awake," Anakin said, jerking his head in what was supposed to be a nod. "That was cool."
It took Obi-Wan a moment to realize Anakin was talking about his fighting.
"Teach me sometime?" Anakin asked.
"Of course," Obi-Wan agreed, silencing the small voice that asked him,
would there be a next time
? Anakin's wound wasn't that bad, was it?
"'M gonna rest now," Anakin announced. He turned his face into Obi-Wan's elbow, relaxing completely in his hold.
"Ah, ah, ah," Obi-Wan said, shaking him just a little. "Not yet."
"But 'm tired," Anakin mumbled, voice muffled in Obi-Wan's robe.
"You can sleep when we get back to the ship," Obi-Wan told him. Anakin simply hummed and kept his eyes closed. Obi-Wan debated pushing it, but decided against it in favor of assessing Anakin's wound. Besides, he had opened their bond to more than it usually was; he would notice almost immediately if Anakin took a sharp decline.
Obi-Wan gently shifted Anakin to get a better look at his shoulder. They had to be almost to the ship, but Obi-Wan wanted to know for sure what kind of state Anakin was in.
He peeled the singed fabric away as carefully as he could, hesitating at every minute movement Anakin made. Once the torn robes were out of the way, he could see the wound much clearer. It's true size was obscured by the sticky, partially dried blood surrounding it, but it looked to be an average blaster wound. The skin around it was burnt and no doubt painful. Obi-Wan touched his fingers to it as lightly as possible, letting a little of the Force flow from him into Anakin to ease the pain. He wasn't a healer, and he didn't know much in the way of healing with the Force, but he knew how to dull the pain of others.
Anakin sighed and let go of the rest of the tension in his body. Obi-Wan, satisfied that Anakin's shoulder wound had stopped bleeding for the most part, shifted his hands down along Anakin's body, using his Force signature to ease the pain. He paused over Anakin's side, brows creasing. The cloth felt wet beneath his fingertips.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan called. He turned his hand towards him, but he couldn't tell if the blood in his fingers was from the shoulder or a possible second wound.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan tried again. Anakin made a soft noise in his throat, but otherwise didn't acknowledge him.
"Anakin," he said a third time. There was a frantic lilt in his voice now. "Did you get hit a second time?"
"Huh?" Anakin asked, but it sounded more like a hum.
"Did you get shot a second time?" he asked again. His tone was harsh with growing panic.
"Maybe," Anakin muttered.
"Anakin Skywalker!" he exclaimed. The sudden movement of his body upset Anakin's body and he flinched in pain. Obi-Wan quickly calmed himself and resituated Anakin, apologizing under his breath for the discomfort.
"Hmm...yes, master?" Anakin replied eventually.
"You can't keep things like this from me," Obi-Wan said softly. He began work on removing the robes in the way of the side wound. That fabric was still damp with blood, and Obi-Wan grimaced. Anakin's blood was nothing new, but the sheer amount caused a wave of panic to well up inside Obi-Wan.
He uncovered the wound slowly, taking notice of the way the blood here wasn't sticky or dry. It was still shockingly warm, and the panic increased. If Anakin has lost this much blood already... Obi-Wan thought. His former padawan was in much greater danger than he had thought.
The transport finally docked with the Endeavor. Obi-Wan was already on the way to the medical bay less than a minute after landing.
"Stay with me, Anakin," he coaxed as he felt Anakin slipping further towards unconsciousness on the way through the halls.
Someone must have alerted the medical staff that he was coming, because Attros Finn met them partway there.
"Master Finn," Obi-Wan acknowledged, any shock of seeing the healer aboard ignored in favor of urgency.
"What happened?" Finn asked.
"Blaster shot to the shoulder. I've looked at it and it seems to be the usual injury. On the flight here I found a second, much more serious wound on his right flank."
The healer said nothing, only shifting his gaze along Anakin's body.
"Come quickly," he said after a pause, walking back towards the medical bay.
Obi-Wan was beginning to really feel Anakin's weight, and he arrived a few moments after Finn. He was directed to a bed in the far corner, and gently laid Anakin on the clinical white sheets. He stepped back to give Attros room to work, but stayed close enough to watch the proceedings.
Obi-Wan could tell by their bond that Anakin had lost consciousness. It was the weakest it had ever been, and Obi-Wan's brow creased in concentration. Instead of staying at the usual lull characteristic of unconsciousness, Anakin's Force signature seemed to be getting weaker. Something is very wrong , his mind supplied.
Just as he was about to voice his thoughts, there was an eruption of sound. Machines began beeping incessantly and several other healers and nurses rushed over to Anakin's bed. Obi-Wan couldn't make out their words, though. The commotion around him slowly faded as he pulled on the bond with Anakin, hoping to rise a response. When he received nothing at all in return, the panic came at him full force. There was suddenly a very real chance that Anakin would not recover from this.
Stupid, stupid...
His thoughts were a mess. If only Anakin had told him, if only he had noticed, if only he'd been faster, if only Anakin had been paying attention...
There was no way he would let Anakin die, not like this. Not ever, he thought, and the fierce conviction behind it would've made his blood run cold on another day, but there wasn't time to debate with himself. Somewhere along the line, he'd formed a very real, very strong attachment to the lonely boy from Tatooine, and he'd be lying if he said it hadn't grown stronger as Anakin grew up. The galaxy knew them as an inseparable team, but few knew them as inseparable friends. A moment's thought of a world without Anakin was enough to send any reason out the window.
Obi-Wan grasped at their bond, trying to get to Anakin through it. His flicker in the Force was growing fainter and fainter as Obi-Wan's fear mounted.
The machine monitoring Anakin's pulse burst into sudden, unexpected sound, and Obi-Wan felt the loss of a life ripple through the Force like a tsunami. Attros stepped away from Anakin's bed with his head bowed as Obi-Wan's desperation grew to a fever pitch. There was an explosion of white light behind his eyes and he might have shouted as he reached out one more time to Anakin in a frantic attempt to bring him back. Darkness rushed in quickly, and he fell to the ground.