Author's Note: Hey you, guys. Sorry it took me so long to update but it was a crazy week. Thank you again for all your kind support. I'm really touched by it. I hope you will enjoy this chapter.
Review would be great, as always.
Disclaimer: May the Force be with Disney and Lucasfilm, who own this property.
Chapter 7
Hey, I feel it coming on
Starting like a fire
Tonight you lit the flame
Now everything will change
Everything Will Change, Gavin DeGraw
Hux did not sleep since Kylo made his great escape. His eyes were swollen, hurting like hell but he kept them open. He knew he was doubted within the First Order, he wasn't the natural choice to lead them after Snoke's death, not like Kylo had been. He knew they were talking behind his back, made fun of him for losing out against his rival yet again, but he would show them. Oh, he would show them all.
"General…" his right-hand man Lieutenant Thora started, before correcting himself, "Supreme Leader Hux. Some of our men spotted a weird distress signal from a small planet we never payed attention to before. It was activated and immediately shut down again. It wasn't one of our ships, but it could be the Resistance."
Hux massaged his temples, weighing in if he deemed that information worthy enough of his attention. He ordered his men to focus all their energy on finding Kylo Ren not the Resistance, still finding them and destroying meant accomplishing something neither Kylo nor Snoke had ultimately managed to do and maybe that traitor was with them after all.
"Send some Stormtroopers there, Lieutenant." He ordered, "Maybe we will find something interesting."
Ben woke up to a sleeping Rey still wrapped in his arms. He smiled at her sleeping form, putting a soft kiss on her bare shoulder. He still couldn't believe that she was real, that she was really there with him. The previous night had been a turning point for him and their relationship. He finally started to break free from the chains that held him back since he was a child, he felt that he slowly started to learn to accept both sides of him and she was with him every step of that difficult way. Their relationship had mostly been formed through their Force bond, but now they took it into the real world and it was more than he ever hoped it would be. He never felt this secure around another person and he swore to himself, so fate allow it, he would spend the rest of his life trying to make her as happy as humanly possible.
He slowly got up, not wanting to wake her up and put his clothes loosely on. He left the small hut and stepped outside, breathing in the stormy sea air.
The damage of the storm was written all over the island. Trees were knocked over, rocks lay everywhere and the earth was split at some parts. He went with his hand through his hair, trying to process that it was him who caused it. He still didn't understand how. He never experienced something like it before. He figured it had something to do with the Force and its connection with this place, but it made him uneasy. He couldn't lose control like this again.
He glanced over his shoulder to the hut, feeling the need to make sure she was safe before walking to the meadow where her ship was. When it came into sight he gulped. A huge rock was crashed into the front, damaging the windshield.
The Stormtrooper sat in front of it, cooking something that looked like a fish over an open fire. When he noticed Ben, he gave him a hesitant look.
"Wanna to take care of that?" He pointed at the rock without looking at it.
Ben said nothing, instead he raised his hand and concentrated on the rock. He was surprised how different his connection to the Force felt after his experience in the cave. Lifting the rock was easier than he expected. All of sudden he felt a unison between him and that strange, invisible power he had never felt before.
"Thanks." Finn muttered. "Hope you're better today."
Ben grunted and sat down opposite of him. It was the first time they were together without Rey in-between to manage their uncomfortable hostility. If Ben was being honest with himself, he had no idea how to interact with him. He wasn't used to interacting with people that were neither enemies or First Order soldiers serving under him. Rey was the only exception currently in his life.
Finn chewed at his breakfast. It wasn't as terrible as some of the stuff he used to eat at the Resistance, but it was far from good. He eyed Ben with curiosity. He only grasped a bit of what had happened to him down in that creepy hole, but he could definitely tell something was different. His eyes were clearer somehow, less troubled. He looked at his clothes. Barely tugged on. His hair a mess. Finn tried to shake the images that came into his mind, he wasn't naïve, he understood what happened during the night. They sealed their relationship, gave into their feelings without any bond connecting them. This time they decided to be together for real.
"You still wonder if I'm manipulating her." Ben said suddenly.
Finn's eyes widened. He kept himself from asking Ben how he knew that, it would only make him look like a fool. Instead he looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. With no Rey there to mediate he was still somewhat afraid of him.
"You'd be a fool to not be suspicious." Ben continued.
That statement however surprised Finn. He didn't seem mad, he sounded almost approving.
"I can assure you that I am not." Ben was way more talkative this morning than Finn ever expected him to be, in fact ever since arriving on that planet he barely addressed him at all. "My feelings for her are genuine and so are hers for me. There is no masterplan. I guarantee you if there was, I wouldn't be on the run from my own people and you'd be dead by now."
There was a hint of a smile hidden in his face, something Finn wasn't even sure Kylo Ren – or was it truly just Ben Solo now – was capable of.
"Thanks for telling me." Finn said unsure.
Ben raised an eyebrow. "Make no mistake, I don't care what you think." His voice was back now to the arrogance and sharpness it had before, "But she cares. She wants your support."
Finn shrugged. "Thanks for telling me anyways. I believe you." He said bluntly and he realized much to his own surprise that it was the truth. His mind didn't try to convince him otherwise anymore. If the last couple of days had been any proof than that Rey and Kylo or whatever he was calling himself now were anything, than that it was genuine in love with one another and even if Finn would never fully understand how that happened, he was going to have his best friend's back.
He hesitantly offered Ben something to eat. He thought he would decline but to his surprise he took it and silently started to eat.
It was funny to Finn how life sometimes turned out. If a couple of months ago someone would have told him he'd be eating breakfast with Kylo Ren, he would have told that person was crazy. Now he, the former Stormtrooper, was on the run with Snoke's star apprentice whom he always watched and feared from afar. Back when they were both part of the First Order Kylo was a terrifying mystery. A creature under a mask with outbursts of rage and a strength no one really understood. Now he sat in front of him and Finn finally started to realize that he was just a man. Somewhat lost and with his own insecurities and hopes and dreams. He would never forget the terrible things he had done, but he also now understood Rey's frequent use of the term "it's complicated" because it was.
"Something else you want to know?" Ben asked with an annoyed undertone.
Finn eagerly shook his head. "Nope, everything's fine." He looked away again and bit his lip.
Ben rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to choke you for asking questions. Besides, whatever is going on in your head is noisy and annoying."
"Stop reading my thoughts…or feelings or whatever you do!" Finn snapped.
"I can't." Ben said and leaned back against a fallen tree. "This place is emphasizing my abilities."
Finn was surprised by how calmly he explained what was going on and even more so by how relaxed he seemed around him. Maybe he was really trying for Rey's sake.
"I just keep wondering about…Stormtroopers." He confessed. Ever since he left the First Order he had so many questions but no one around to ask. With Ben now present and not that villainous anymore he finally had a person to turn to.
Ben sighed. He suddenly felt something like pity for Finn. "Some of the old guards are leftovers from the Empire." He started, "But your generation has been raised into the First Order since childhood. Trained as soldiers, brainwashed." He hissed, empathizing with Finn due to his own experiences with Snoke. "Some were taken from powerful families, political or famous bloodlines. As leverage or…"
"Or the parents were killed." Finn finished.
Ben nodded. "But some…some children were given to the First Order. Either by parents who supported the cause or who just couldn't afford them." He remembered what Rey's parents did to her and felt nothing but disgust. Of course, he couldn't openly disobey Snoke when he started training under him, but he always hated how the Stormtroopers were created. "Some are just orphans." He continued. "Picked up by the First Order and forged into weapons."
"So, chances are either that my family is dead or scum." Finn said bitterly. He didn't know what exactly he expected to hear, he always tried to tell himself it didn't matter and that he found a family within the Resistance, but truth to be told, just like Rey, a part of him always wondered. "I don't suppose that the First Order kept a record or something?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Ben was surprised by the amount of compassion in his voice, but he could relate to Finn. He wasn't take from his parents like that, but he knew how it felt to be lost and lonely and wondering what life could have been like. "I could try to find something." He suggested, "Going deep into your subconscious."
Finn shook his head. "No thanks, that's kinda creepy but I…uhm…appreciate the offer." He wasn't sure if Ben just really asked him to do something nice for him, but when they fell back into silence it was less awkward than it had been before.
Poe couldn't sit still for a minute. He forgot to eat and drink and sleep. His body was telling him to rest, but he ignored it.
"If I'm allowed to take a nap, so are you Commander Dameron." Leia said, eying him suspiciously.
Poe forced a smile. "Afraid I must decline, General."
Leia crossed her arms. "Afraid it is an order." HSh shot right back at him.
Poe laughed lightly. He admired her so much for her strength, intelligence and sense of humor even within a crisis.
"I just fee like…" he yawned, "If anything will happen to them, it's my fault." He confessed.
Leia shook her head. "Poe." She said more gently now, taking his hand and making him sit down next to her, "Whatever is going on, you are certainly not at fault. We don't know if they are even in danger." Assuring Poe was not an easy task. Leia put on a good act to stay positive, but in reality, she was as scared as he was, blaming herself as well. She knew something was off with Rey long before she and Finn left and yet stood there and did nothing. And now that new information about Kylo Ren fleeing from the First Order was out in the open as well and she had no idea what to make of it. All she was sure about was that those two events were connected somehow.
"If something happens to him, I will never forgive myself." Poe said, his eyes closed now. "He just wanted to escape the First Order and live a normal life and I dragged him into this mess. I know I should focus on my job but –"
Leia was surprised by his sudden emotional outburst. While Poe never held back his opinions and certainly was passionate about the resistance, personal feelings he mostly kept to himself.
"It is fine to lose focus once in a while." Wasn't she herself absentminded often, thinking about the son she had lost? "Especially when we worry about those we love."
Poe looked at her, he neither confirmed what she just said or deny it.
A cough suddenly caught their attention. Rose stood in front of them. "We got a brief distress signal, from what could have been our lost ship."
Poe immediately jumped to his feet. "Was it Finn?" His eyes gleamed, "Where is he?"
Rose smiled sadly. "It was turned off too quickly. We couldn't get a read on the location, I'm afraid we are too far away. I'm sorry."
Leia got up and gently squeezed Poe's shoulder. Disappointment was written all over his face. "At least we have a sign of life. Can we get maybe a direction?"
Rose nodded. "We are trying our best."
Rey woke up with a smile on her face. She stretched her arms and looked around, noticing she was alone. For a moment she panicked that last night was nothing but a mere Force projection again, that he wasn't really there after all then she touched the spot he lay on and it was still somewhat warm and it calmed her down.
She figured he woke up early and just didn't want to bother her. As much as she was looking forward to waking up next to him, she also admitted she needed the rest. The last couple of days were emotionally exhausting and she didn't get much sleep during last night, being occupied with other activities. She giggled to herself, feeling a bit silly doing so, but couldn't help it.
She felt like she could drown in her own happiness. A part of her felt guilty for feeling that way. The Galaxy was at war, her friends still in danger and yet she could shout it from a top of a mountain how much she loved him and how happy he made her.
She wished she could just grab him, find a little place somewhere safe and just be there with them, living their lives together. It was impossible right now, but also something to look forward to. For the first time she truly believed that maybe this could all end well, that the Force brought them together for a reason and that they could make it out alive, have their adventures and then find a nice place to live together. It seemed so far away, yet she could picture it right in front of her eyes.
When she was still on Jakku she only dreamed about finding her parents and getting away from this place, she never really cared about anything else. When she discovered the Force within her, her single goal was to become a Jedi. Now there were all these plans inside of her head, all these wishes and dreams about a future she never dared to think of before.
She grabbed her clothes and got dressed. She ran down to the place where they had left the ship, barely noticing the damage from the storm around her. What she in front of her ship made her heart skip beat. Finn and Ben sitting there together, no snarky comments, no drawn lightsaber, no choking. They weren't talking but she could feel that they weren't as uncomfortable as before either.
"Hey!" She waved at Finn, who shot her a bright smile. "Good morning." She wrapped her arms around Ben from behind, leaned down and kissed his cheek. She couldn't hide her wide smile and giggles, even if she wanted to.
For a moment he felt uncomfortable again, expressing his emotions in front of Finn, but her laughter and happiness were simply infectious.
"Morning." He pulled her on his lap, capturing her in a deep kiss. "I didn't want you to wake up alone, I just thought you could need the rest."
"It's fine." She whispered against his lips. "I love you." Now that she said it once, she never wanted to stop saying it again. It felt so good, so right.
He kissed her again. "I love you, too."
Finn rolled his eyes. "I get it. No one is manipulated, you two are genuinely in love and you're making me nauseous."
Rey tried hard not to laugh out loud. She slipped from Ben's lap, but kept her hand intertwined with his and buried her head on his shoulder. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I'm sorry, Finn." She laughed.
"I'm sorry…" Finn imitated her annoyed. "Can we focus on important stuff?" He asked and pointed at the ship. "A huge rock crashed into the windshield."
Rey looked up. "What?"
"It's taken care of." Finn said, exchanging a look with Ben. "And I think we have enough material stashed to repair it…or at least improvise, but I doubt the ship will take us far." There was something else he hadn't told them yet and he was glad that Ben was too preoccupied with their previous conversation to notice how nervous that one left out detail made him. "When I returned to the ship last night" he started carefully "it was turned on. I guess it happened during the crash." He took a deep breath, "for a moment all systems were turned on…including…"
"The tracking system?" Rey asked, but one look into his face and she already knew the answer.
"I immediately turned it off." Finn said hastily, but he wasn't sure exactly how long it had been on.
Ben, who had been quiet up until this moment rose up. "We should repair what we can and then leave this place, it's not safe anymore." He felt guilty about what happened, if it weren't for him no damage would have been done.
"Hey." Rey took his hand and squeezed it. "It's not your fault, you had no idea this could happen."
It amazed Finn how they communicated without words, she knew exactly how he felt and one look into her eyes and he seemed more relaxed. Watching them felt like missing out on an entire conversation he just couldn't understand.
"Rey is right." He gave him a small smile, "Besides we couldn't have stayed here forever anyways."
Ben nodded, acknowledging Finn's reassurance in his own silent way. "We need to ditch that ship as soon as possible."
"But then what?" Finn asked the question no one had an answer to. "I mean, we don't have a plan. I know it was more important to get to safety first, but what now? I know you don't want to hear this, but maybe we should rejoin the Resistance. I'm sure if we explain everything, General Leia –"
"You don't get it." Ben hissed, obviously shaken by hearing his mother's name. "I won't join the Resistance."
"But you left the First Order!" Finn argued. "We're three people, what can we do alone?"
Neither Rey or Ben had an answer to that. "If we go back it will just be another fight." Rey said, "If the Resistance destroys the First Order sooner or later another Snoke will rise."
"And if the First Order destroys the Resistance there will be another group rising ot resist." Ben continued.
Finn understood their points perfectly, but it frustrated him to no end. "You can't just tell them to lay their weapons down and stop fighting. That's not how war works."
"Don't you think we don't know that?" Ben snapped. He thought about the Stormtrooper KN and the vague idea that was once forming inside of his mind when he still had a chance to turn the First Order upside down from the inside. But that chance was gone now, they were back to square one.
The whole situation was a mess, they were all aware of it. Good intentions did not stop a war.
"How about a compromise?" Finn asked. "We could go and find Maz. She will listen to us, I'm sure of it."
Rey thought about it for a moment. She could read it in Ben's face that he wasn't too keen on the idea either, but Finn was right, they were running out of options.
"How should we find her?" She asked, bringing up the next problem.
Finn shrugged. "Don't know." He sighed, it was such a complicated situation.
"First things, first." Ben said then, his voice strong and controlled showing hints of the leader he grew into within the First Order. "We repair the ship, get off this planet and try to get a new one. Everything else we decide then."
Using the word we suddenly got a whole new meaning for him. We didn't just mean him and Rey anymore, but also included Finn. For the first time he truly seemed to understand that the former Stormtrooper was now part of whatever they had started. Ben was not the Supreme Leader anymore, but part of a group, part of team something he had never truly been. They were equal partners, all three of them and therefore every opinion counted.
"Let's go to work then." Rey said and clapped her hands together.
Hux entered his chambers. Instead of a quite place to calm down he found a tall man, dressed in black and wearing a mask standing in the corner of his room.
He jerked back. "Do you have to appear like that?" He snapped. "Ever heard of entering a room by askingfor permission first?" He tried to sound confident, but the appearance of that man scared him. They all scared him, but he couldn't let them know it. He learned to hide his feelings from Force sensitive people and hoped they wouldn't betray him now.
"You send for us." The voice sounded metallic, unreal. A lot like Kylo's when he still used that ridiculous helmet.
"That's right." Hux confirmed, walking past him. "Luke Skywalker is dead, I'm sure you've heard about that."
The man grunted, but said nothing. Hux took it as all the confirmation he needed. "I thought you could use a new mission."
Looking into that masked face was unsettling. He couldn't read what he was thinking or going to do next.
"Supreme Leader Snoke is dead." The man said, "We only answer to Kylo Ren now and not you, Armitage Hux."
"Hm." Hux sighed unconcerned, "I figured that. But you might want to reconsider your loyalties, when I show you what really happened to Supreme Leader Snoke." He smiled cruelly.
Poe was in the hangar looking at the ships. How easy it was to just steal one and go looking for them as well. BB-8 was rolling around next to him, beeping every now and then.
"I know, buddy. We can't just do that." He gently touched the little droid's head.
"Hey." Rose walked towards them, handing him something to drink. "How are you holding up?" She asked.
He shrugged. "Just trying to understand what happened." They all did, but their thoughts were running in circles.
"I keep thinking we missed something." She said, lost in thoughts. "I don't think they would betray us, I also think Rey is too strong and too smart to be manipulated by Kylo Ren."
"And Finn would never support running after Kylo to get him alone…" Poe was sure about that. He would rather tie Rey up than let her chase after Kylo on her own, Finn feared that guy.
"Even if…" Rose said, "How would they even know that he fled the First Order?"
Poe nipped at his drink. It was Luke Skywalker all over again. A wild goose chase through the Galaxy with no clue were to start. He looked at BB-8, suddenly an idea hit him.
"You wouldn't look at the same hiding place twice…" He said more to himself than to Rose.
"What?" She asked confused.
Poe kneeled in front of BB-8. "Show me the map again. You still got it, right?"
BB-8 made a confirming sound and projected the map they both once recovered in front of them.
"No one could find Skywalker there!" He pointed excitedly at the map. "So, why not use that spot again?"
Rose raised an eyebrow, not sure if she was following him. "Why would they go there?"
"Who knows?" Poe asked, "But it's a place we wouldn't think about!" He started to sprint back to the Commando Room. "Come on, BB-8!"
"Poe, wait!" Rose followed him, playing with the idea he just lost his mind.
"General!" He ran towards Leia, grabbing her shoulders. "I think they're might hiding on Ahch-To!"
Leia raised an eyebrow. "And you think that because…?" She asked skeptically.
"I don't know. A hunch?" Poe knew how crazy that sounded. "Look, Luke hid there and no one could find him, right? They wouldn't expect us to look at the same place twice." It still sounded crazy, but his gut told him he was right. He could feel it deep within. "Permission to look there, please." He begged her.
Leia could feel his desperation. His worry for Finn got the best of him, but even if they would just go looking on a hunch, what bad could it really do? They had no idea where their missing friends had headed to and she herself relied a lot on her feelings as well.
"Fine. But just a scouting mission. If you run into the First Order or…" she thought about her son, "any kind of trouble, do not engage." She turned to Rose. "I assume right that you want to join him, Miss Tico?"
Rose nodded. "Yes, General."
Leia didn't want to let them go, but she was afraid they would leave anyways to find their lost friends. "Take the Falcon. She is the best ship we have."
"And Chewbacca?" Poe asked.
Leia smiled sadly. "I'll ask Chewie to trust you with her. He could become a liability should you run into my…should you run into Kylo Ren."
Poe understood. "Thank you, General. We will prepare for our journey and leave as soon as possible." He left the room to gather some things, leaving Rose and Leia behind.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Rose muttered under her breath.
Leia said nothing, but silently agreed.
Rey was good with machines. She felt at home repairing them. "Hand me the screwdriver again." She instructed Finn.
She was trying to patch up the broken windshield outside the ship, with Finn assisting her as good as possible.
"I wish we would have kidnapped a droid." He murmured.
Rey used her lightsaber for welding. "That should do it." She said and climbed off the ship. "How are we doing inside?" She shouted.
"Good news is –" Ben shouted back, "Ship can definitely fly. Bad news, the hyperspace is extremely damaged. If we're lucky we make one jump."
Finn groaned. "Amazing. Let me guess, there is also a high chance we just blow up."
Ben didn't answer that question, but Rey's expression said more than a thousand words.
"Fantastic. I hope you two appreciate what I'm doing for you."
"Finn…" Rey said suddenly.
"What? I think I deserve some appreciation for being the best friend –"
"Look out!" She tackled him down.
"What the…?" he asked and looked up. They were surrounded by Stormtroopers.
