Author's Note: Thank you to those who have shown an interest in this story! I am loving writing it, and it moves much more quickly than my other multi-chapter story, The Red String (check it out if you love TFA canon-compliant, slow burn continuations!). With Hero, I'm working hard to take inspiration from both Hancock and TFA while still creating a new and interesting story. In this chapter, Rey has to follow through with her promise, and we'll see just what is up with our favorite force user.
Inspired by Hancock. Rated M for eventual mature content.
Hero
Chapter Two
Ben Solo lived in the mountains; in particular, right on the very ledge Rey had had in her sights. Shrouded by the cliff's overhang, a cave was nestled inside of it, hidden away and perfectly obscure. That's where he'd made a home; used the force to burrow deeper until there was a concise, hollowed out trail inside the mountain itself. In his sanctuary, Ben Solo was out of sight and out of mind – safe from the First Order who hunted him down.
The last time he was seen publicly had been just over a year and a half ago, and Rey would never forget it. Though she was off on another trip with Luke Skywalker, the story was still buzzing upon her return. The First Order – Chandrila's tyrannical government – had been involved, of course. Through the leadership of their intimidating leader, General Armitage Hux, they'd tracked Ben Solo down for the umpteenth time. No matter how carefully he hid or how often he fled, the First Order always seemed to find Ben Solo. The rumor was that he'd been living at sea and came into port on Landing Platform OB-99.
"It's true," Ben confirmed. "I was planning to commandeer an X-wing." When Rey asked why, there was no hint of apology in his response. "They were coming for me, so I needed to go."
And come for him, they did, with blasters hot and an entire fleet crowding the port. It was easy to blame Ben Solo for the innocents lost that day. At the time, Landing Platform OB-99 was the place for aspiring pilots to train, and had Ben Solo simply surrendered, those casualties could have been avoided. No one seemed to care that those pilots' bodies were riddled with government-issued blaster bolt wounds and nothing else; that Ben Solo hadn't laid a finger – physical or mental – on them, or so he claimed.
Rey believed him, but Leia was not impressed.
Rey's first instinct was to take Ben Solo to the Resistance base. It was a logical choice – the Resistance's purpose was to help all those affected by the First Order. Who was more affected than the galaxy's last force user? Those who communed with the force, "force sensitives," were all but extinct save for Ben Solo. Rey knew the story like the back of her hand, as per the history lessons joining the Resistance required. Once upon a time, force users were celebrated. Academies existed for the sole purpose of fostering them and their powers. Saviors were what they were, back then. Protecting and serving those weaker than they. They'd even had their own Order: the Jedi, if Rey wasn't mistaken. Those details were fuzzy, even for the historians. But what was clear was how their extinction came about.
It had only taken one voice to turn the sheep against the force users; heralded by a wolf in shepherd's clothing. Few knew the name, and even less dared to speak it: Snoke. The faceless founder of the First Order. Rumors said it was a title more than anything, passed down through generations to keep it alive and the aforementioned sheep in line. Others said that Snoke was a force user himself, hell bent on destroying anything that could usurp him - anything that rivaled his own power. Whatever the case, Snoke gave the order for force user eradication by any means possible.
Damaging propaganda hit the streets rapidly, and it didn't take long for heads to fill with it and opinions to sway. The force users were dangerous. Force sensitivity was unnatural. It was an 'us or them' mentality, and where the force users excelled in their greatness, they lacked in numbers. Through no fault of their own, they were shunned. Feared. When it was something else entirely that deserved that fear.
The First Order formed seemingly overnight: saviors to usher in a new world of equality and indifference. Peace, they called it, but what came was everything but. They amassed more militia than any army ever seen across the galaxy. They hunted down every errant force user that they could. Whether the force users were alone or in their typical pairs, they were found and swarmed, leaving no chance of survival even with their inherent abilities.
The Battle of Chandrila would go down in history as one of the most devastating. The remaining force users gathered there, led by the Knights of Ren and their fearless Master. Their combined powers was an unmistakable beacon, luring the First Order into a battle that no one could win. But Rey guessed that winning wasn't the point; rather, it was how many lives could be taken. The force users wanted the First Order quelled, and the First Order wanted the force users annihilated. Both succeeded in some ways and failed in others.
The First Order was smart; their numbers impossibly large. Rey had her own theory: they must have recruited enough to fill planets. If she believed the rumors about Snoke – who was thought to have made a rare appearance to end the Battle of Chandrila – it would also be easy to believe he brainwashed his followers to, in fact, follow him. How else could so many people turn into weak sympathizers of a now oppressive dictatorship? Who followed a government that murdered an entire race, forbade the discussion of said people, and punished all those who dared speak ill? If they could speak for themselves, most Chandrilians would admit it was the fear of ending up like the force sensitives: erased by the First Order.
But they missed one.
Rey knew all of the stories. At first, Ben Solo's presence went relatively unnoticed in Norina – a small city west of Hanna. It seemed innate for him to show up just when he was needed: serving others in their time of need with no expectation of thanks. Perhaps to some, he was a light in the darkness… until his presence ignited fire within the First Order. The first time Storm Troopers chased Ben out of town, it caused a simple traffic jam. People hung out their windows to see him rush by on a decrepit speeder, given to him by a mechanic he'd pulled and healed from a car wreck. They cheered when the Storm Troopers lost sight of him. Ben Solo was the prince of lore, and Chandrilians thought he would be the one to slay the dragon.
The second time was not as entertaining, and the dragon had yet to be slayed. Propaganda returned to the comm channels and hung in notices along the streets, following Ben Solo to his new sanctuary, Catan City. The mandates reached across the planet: force use was prohibited, and anyone harboring information as to the whereabouts of a force sensitive would be tried as strictly and as harshly. In reality, there were no trials. Empathizers were simply never heard from again. The day Ben Solo went into town for supplies, there were no cheers. Passersby averted their gazes when they crossed paths and ducked into buildings when Storm Troopers showed up. That time, Ben would not escape unscathed.
A year ago marked the third confrontation with what they called the incident. Rey saw it as more of an accident, but she was in the minority who would agree. In the wake of Landing Platform OB-99's destruction, Ben Solo had gone unseen by everyone save for those who lived in the small town of Deltannin. Unfortunately for those citizens, none who bore witness to the incident, survived. This time, the First Order raid was led by General Hux himself, and Ben Solo was effortlessly flushed out. Rey believed he had done his best to flee the diminutively populated city. "I chose it because I thought it was desolate enough," Ben said, and he would have been right. A small fishing town, there was often no one there with the fisherman busy at sea. As fate would have it, the village was full at the time of the incident, and the First Order no longer believed in witnesses.
Thus, Ben Solo became the Most Wanted being in all of Chandrila, if not the galaxy. And where was such a man to go?
"How long have you been here?" Leia asked through pursed lips. She, Rey, and Ben sat around the kitchen table, a steaming pot of kaff between them. Ben clutched his mug with both hands but had yet to take a drink.
"Since the incident."
"Why here?"
"I figured it would be the last place they'd look."
It made sense. It was smart, even, if Rey thought about it. The First Order was rampant in Hanna City. The citizens, like drones following their queen bee. A force user in their right mind wouldn't be anywhere near it.
Leia, on the other hand, looked as though she couldn't decide whether the decision was brave or idiotic. Looking to Rey, she shook her head. "I don't know what you expect me to do, Rey."
"What you always do. Help. Like he helped me. Or does that not matter?"
Ben looked as though he were about to speak, but Leia raised a hand to quiet him without moving her motherly glare from Rey. "Of course it matters. But you are asking a lot of me, and of the Resistance. Anyone associated with a force user can be-"
Rey fisted her hands in frustration. "I know what's at stake. That doesn't change the fact that our job is to help all who suffer at the hands of the First Order. Who has suffered more than him? How is he any different?" When Leia's face fell in defeat, Rey reached across the table to take her hand. It was easy to forget how old her mentor had become, the fine wrinkles of her hand soft against Rey's young skin.
"You've wanted me to play a bigger part for a while now. Wanted me to step up and see what it's like to lead…" Rey cast a glance toward Ben who watched her with that same stare from before – drilling so deeply into her that she swore he could see clean through to her core. She couldn't forget the sacrifice he made, coming out of hiding to save her life. It was time for her to do the same. "Perhaps this is the way I do it."
Leia was silent for a long time, trading glances between Rey and their guest. Finally she breathed a deep sigh – the sign, Rey knew all too well, of Leia giving in.
It was a miracle, Leia claimed, that Ben Solo was not seen when Rey led him to Leia's home. Rey, however, thought that statement was a bit dramatic. General Leia Organa liked her privacy when she was away from her infamous leadership role in the Resistance. Therefore, her home was nestled deep in the outskirts of Hanna City within a forest that extended for miles. The last Rey checked, First Order Storm Troopers didn't venture out into Veridian Forest except for their once-monthly duty of scouting Leia's property. Years had passed since the last altercation between the opposing forces, and the First Order learned quickly that the Resistance's reserve army could hold their own. Now, they had no reason to suspect Leia of wrongdoing… still, they kept a close, particular eye on her. After all, they were not fond of her organization's opposition.
That being said, Rey was now tasked in escorting Ben Solo to the Resistance base. His presence in Leia's home had saved Rey a tongue-lashing for what she'd done: climbing Junari Point and bringing a wanted man to her home. At least for now.
"Luke will return to base soon," Leia said, gunning the engine of her four-seater speeder. "You can explain to him then what you were doing at Junari Point."
Rey winced. Though Luke had promised over and over to accompany her on a safe, supervised climb, he had also broken that promise, again and again. Now, as punishment, it would be some time before Rey would join him on another trip, off-continent or off-planet. Nodding remorsefully, Rey peered out the side window and to the stars above, steadily blinking into existence against the recent nightfall. Hanna City had a strict curfew, but night was still the safest time to travel, unnoticed, through Veridian Forest.
"You have little faith in her." It wasn't a question, and had her eyes not been trained diligently on avoiding trees in her path, Leia would have shot Ben Solo a disapproving look.
"Not at all," Rey objected for her guardian's sake… or perhaps it was for Ben's. "The opposite, actually. Leia would like to see me lead the Resistance one day."
"So that you can risk your life instead of her?"
It was Rey's turn to cast him an angry stare, turning in her seat so she could face him in the back. To her surprise, his expression betrayed no emotion, save for the slightest tick in his clenched jaw. "So that I can be as great as she is. So that I can help as many people as she has helped." Though he nodded in acceptance, Rey could see that Ben didn't quite agree with the notion. Rey wouldn't let it go. "What is it that you don't believe?"
He was quiet for a moment, thoughtful, before responding. "For someone who claims to believe something as grand as that, I would think you'd have taken the position by now."
He had a point, and Rey was sure now more than ever that he saw right through her. Or at least into the confines of her mind. Was it a force user thing? She'd have to look it up, later… Still, he was right. There was something holding her back, and his name was Luke. Luke was much more adamant than Leia about Rey taking her time – to the extent where Rey sometimes believed he never meant for Rey to progress at all. He was like the father she never had, protecting her from every little thing while simultaneously showing her the world, one adventure at a time. It was as if he feared her setting out on her own, and made up for it in other ways.
But that was none of Ben Solo's business, so Rey changed the topic. "Is there anyone we can contact for you? It would be safer for us to find them for you."
Ben Solo didn't answer. Only shook his head as he continued to stare out the window.
"No one? A friend? Significant other?" Rey held her breath with the last one, though she wasn't sure why.
"If I had anyone, I wouldn't know it."
Leia quirked a fleeting eye toward Rey, but Rey was too stunned to notice it. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Ben started slowly, a hint of annoyance in his tone and his jaw clenching once again. Rey started to wonder if he knew how to relax. "I have no one. I don't think I ever have."
"That's impossible. Everyone has someone."
He looked sharply at her, then, and his expression danced between disappointment, sadness, and anger. "The last thing I remember was waking up in the hospital. Nothing before that. Couldn't even remember my own name."
Rey bit her lip and resisted the urge to reach for him. A smile hinted at the corners of his lips, looking out of place and foreign beneath the pain.
"The doctors, nurses… they tried to help me remember. But they had more than I did: paperwork with the name 'Ben Solo.' That was it."
It hurt to ask, but Rey couldn't help herself. "And no one…" she whispered.
Ben's face turned back to the window. "What kind of man was I, that no one would claim me? No one?"
While the rest of Chandrila slept, the Resistance was alive. Far from any popular, active port in a section without a name, the base was buried underground – its only apparent feature the decrepit hangar that concealed its entrance. Long since abandoned and rarely used even now, it was the perfect guise. Massive trap doors once used for crews to work beneath ships opened into equally massive tunnels. Beneath the earth, an entire military operation lived, waiting for their moment. Of course, it was just one of their many bases, but it was the largest.
Leia excused herself from the speeder, requesting a moment for clearance. When Rey stepped out to wait, Ben reluctantly followed – but that's as far as he went. Reaching inside the control panel to set the speeder to 'stealth mode,' she watched it disappear by Ben's side. He, however, was preoccupied, staring off in the direction Leia had gone, underground.
"It's alright," Rey assured him, just as he'd done for her on the beach. Before she could convince herself against it, Rey took his hand, lacing her fingers with his. Startled, he looked down at her with wide eyes and she smiled. "No one fears you here. No one wants to hurt you, or turn you over. They will want to help."
Pursing his lips, Ben turned back just as Leia reappeared, waving them on. "We shall see," he said under his breath, but followed Rey all the same.
Author's Note: Please let me know what you think! I reply to all comments (those from FFdotnet I include in the next chapter installment).