Chapter Text
Obi-Wan blinked at the child whose face looked somewhat vaguely familiar to him. The boy stood bravely, protecting the blond figure behind him who was trying to look with great curiosity into her brown eyes. In fact, they had the same eyes – perhaps they were twins?
"Stay back!" The boy said as he approached, his left hand moving behind his back to grasp what the secret Jedi assumed was a weapon.
Well... it was time to play it smart – and civilian.
"I live here," he said, pointing at the building, "and this," he continued, pointing at them, "is the front door. I'm not going to stay out all night just because a couple of rude kids won't let me in. Besides, you should go home, the neighbourhood isn't the worst in terms of safety in the streets but it's not the best for hanging around outside at this hour without an adult either."
Spotting the reflection of blaster shots in the window of Dex's diner, Obi-Wan watched with deep weariness as the rare, fleeting bursts of light quickly died down. Since the Mandalorians had arrived, it was fairly safe to say that they had brought their problems with them. When said problems were a terrorist group bent on causing mayhem through urban guerrilla strategies, it quickly became a particularly unpleasant problem.
"See? Just go now."
"We can't."
"Omega!"
"Can you let us stay here if we let you in? We can't go home right now," the girl explained without explaining anything at all, making Obi-Wan just a little more curious and worried for them.
Runaway?
"Is everything all right at home, kids?" he asked, crouching down. "Because if you need help I know a few people who might be able to make sure you don't get into trouble."
"Don't talk nonsense, buir would never-"
The girl, Omega if he had got it right, interrupted her brother with a swift kick but jumped as he did when an explosion occurred, this time on the other side of his place from the previous shooting.
Their horrified faces were all someone like Obi-Wan needed to know. The natural use of the term buir identified the children as Mandalorians, and if they were terrified to see an explosion in the clone quarter of Coruscant, then they were clones too. The redhead had assumed that clones were just men like their original and distant parental figure Jango Fett, but he was not an expert on cloning so he simply accepted the new information.
Knowing the extremely strong hostility of the Coruscant population towards clones, he could understand them being suspicious and trying to keep their identity a secret, he would be careful not to make them worry.
"Have you guys eaten yet?"
"No!"
"Yes!"
The boy blushed as a gurgling escaped from his stomach at the mere thought of food and Obi-Wan laughed softly, rising slowly to his feet.
"It looks like it's going to be a particularly dangerous night, I don't see myself leaving children younger than my little brother to sleep outside. You can stay here tonight."
"I'm not going into a stranger's house."
"Would you rather sleep outside a stranger's door?" He teased, pressing without hesitation or guilt on one of the weak points of bold, arrogant children brought up in a culture that worships bravery and honour. "What great courage. I live with my friend, he's the boss and cook here, I hope you're not scared of Besalisk though."
"I've never seen a Besalisk." The girl said after escaping from her brother's protection to approach. "Hello, my name is Omega!"
What a charming and sociable child, she seemed much funnier than her brother.
"Hello Omega, I'm Obi-Wan, so who's the grump behind you?"
"My twin, Boba. And you're right," she murmured, "he is grumpy. Thank you for having us."
"My pleasure, I couldn't look myself in the mirror if I left two kids on their own. Dex!" He called immediately once he had entered the flat that had become his home since he had left the Temple to escape detection by the clones.
The temporary arrangement had become permanent, he and his friend had a very peaceful flat-share and lived well as single men, so everything was fine.
"NO!" the Besalisk answered loudly from the other side of the flat.
"Oh, come on, you don't even know what I'm going to say."
"I don't need to, I know that tone, so my answer is no."
"Does this mean we've run out of leftovers to eat in the fridge?" Obi-Wan asked as he took off his shoes, urging the children to go further than the entrance, which they did with carefulness and suspicion.
"There's food, there's always food here, why would you ask such a... thing. Where on Coruscant have you been stealing children from and why?"
"Ligth, you'd think I was a slave trader. They were sleeping on the doorstep, it wasn't safe for them out there."
"And you didn't call their guardians because...?"
"Because they're on the run, of course."
Dex's older brother's look of disappointed reproach made the twins look away, and they did not dare to say anything.
"Do you have a bad family? Bad people?"
"No!"
"Not at all!"
"Do you have any idea how worried your loved ones must be? It's completely irresponsible, you can at least borrow one of our coms to call them."
"It's too dangerous, the calls can be tracked," Omega murmured with a tearful expression as Boba reluctantly nodded.
"The young lady's name is Omega and this is Boba, her twin. They haven't eaten, kids, the kitchen is this way, come on."
Dex sighed deeply, grabbing him and lifting him effortlessly to push him in the other direction.
"I'll take care of this, you go wash up."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes but took advantage of being hidden behind his friend to lean over and whisper:
"They're Mandalorians, probably clone children."
Dex's smile became a little slier and sharper before returning to normal. He had never mentioned Obi-Wan being a Jedi to anyone but now he would know what kind of thing to say about him to sell their deception.
"What kind of cooking do you do?" He heard Omega ask. "What do the Besalisk even eat?"
"Cooking for humans and near-humans, I get more customers that way. And the Besalisk eat the arms of freshly ripped human children."
Obi-Wan waited for the bathroom door to close on him before bursting out laughing, especially as Omega repeated his words aloud in a horrified tone while Boba declared that he knew how to fight and that he could defeat Dex in combat if he tried anything. Cute.
"What an idiot."
A provocative idiot but an effective one, as with Anakin, Dex had both kids wrapped around his little finger when Obi-Wan returned in his pyjamas.
"Bath time with Obi-Wan, I'll make up a bed for you, and in the morning we'll take you home."
Their relief was real, they had not run away.
"I'm certainly not going to wash children that age," he told them, "but come on, it's this way and I've already put some things out for you."
An hour later, after bedtime and a careful check by Obi-Wan in the Force that the two exhausted children were sound asleep, he found Dex.
"What does that mean, Obi-Wan?"
"To be honest, I have no idea. I've never seen such a young clone child outside the area claimed by the clones..."
"And it's a secure enclave that no one gets into that easily," Dex completed. "And nobody should get out so easily... especially so young and defenceless."
"My only guess is that they weren't alone in the beginning but were separated from their elders. They're genuinely terrified, even now there's a tension in them, I have no doubt they'll wake up at the slightest loud noise."
"I'll do it. I'll get them back alone, go to work as usual tomorrow, I'll attract attention but there's nothing about me that should really make them want to look twice."
As much as Obi-Wan hated this plan because it involved letting Dex go alone among strangers they knew nothing about except that they had taken over the Republic in a matter of days with a military force far superior to anything the Republic had to offer in resistance, he was able to see the intelligence behind it. Obi-Wan, whether he liked it or not, was a Jedi. Everything about his manner, his tone and even his vocabulary drew attention. Clones, many of whom had become familiar with the ways of the Senate, would find him suspicious, and although all the records containing the personnel files of all the Jedi as well as the children identified to join them in the future had been evacuated along with so much of their most valuable knowledge and possessions, he did not want to take any chances. There were bound to be a few images of him at galas, celebrations and peace agreements, he could not take the risk.
"It would be more reasonable, thanks Dex."
"No problem," the Besalisk replied with a relaxed wave of his hand. "I'm going to sleep, see you tomorrow."
With a wink to his friend who knew him too well, Obi-Wan settled down to meditate in his room. It was best not to let his guard down, after all, he could function for a few days in wartime without sleep, so in these conditions it was not even a challenge.
No one would surprise them tonight.
Tomorrow would be another day, but tonight everything would be fine.