Carson was waiting for Recon to show up. He had only met her a few times before now, but each time he couldn't help but wonder who had hired her.

When he was younger, Carson had heard tales of great spymasters, ones who would be hired by powerful beings with loads of money. He and his brothers had often playacted as spies, dreaming of action and money.

But now he knew, that in reality, this was not the case. You didn't choose to work with the spymasters. They choose you. And they would ensure you did your job by capturing your family and holding them against you.

Carson despised it, but he couldn't deny that it was effective. There was no way he would ever risk his family's safety, and so he did what he was told. And he did it well.

Although he needed to keep his thoughts as far away from his true self as possible. Delving too far into sentimental judgements could ruin the personna that had been so carefully crafted by his spymaster team. He had made it this far without mistakes, he could go a little longer as Carson.

Decidedly avoiding the topic previously on his mind, Carson tried to distract himself with the people around him. He took his time scanning the mostly empty cantina. There were a few people at a table in the corner and someone sitting hunched over at the bar. Nothing really drew his attention, and wanting something to do with his hands he went to the counter. The filthy-looking, fellow sitting there glanced at Carson for a moment before turning back to his drink. Carson stood there waiting as the bartender entered from a doorway.

"Sorry for the wait. What can I get you?" The bartender refused to meet Carson's eyes, which once again drew the attention of the now-muttering man. Raising an eyebrow Carson responded, "Just some juice. Whatever's best." The bartender nodded before turning to fill Carson's order.

"S-so what brings you h-here?" Carson wished the bartender wasn't so afraid of him. Then he wouldn't have had to talk to this gringy looking man, who was now looking at Carson quizzically, as if trying to predict what he had done to the bartender.

"Just waiting for a friend." He said pointedly, needing to put an end to this conversation.

"You m-must keep important company to be scaring th-this man." Undoubtedly having been listening in on the conversation, the bartender dropped the glass he was holding, the shatter claiming the attention of the small group in the corner. Carson seethed, struggling to keep his temper in check. Quickly adding power to his words, as to avoid any further problems or unwanted attention he announced, "Everything is fine. Go on your way." Abruptly the group in the corner began making their excuses, apologizing to each other for forgetting about some other event they had to tend to. The bartender was gone again, either having forgotten what he was doing or grabbing a broom, leaving Carson alone with the man who was once again muttering.

"Ah… yes must go… see to it…" He got up, taking his time as he left the catina without looking back. With no one left in the room, Carson allowed himself to roll his eyes. Sensing the bartender was still in the back room, Carson went around the counter and made his own drink before returning to his table. He felt in control of the situation now, he just hoped that the bartender wouldn't make any other foolish mistakes, because if he did, Carson would have a hard time keeping him safe.


Hux sat in the secret compartment of Delta-Green's ship, watching her movements through a hidden camera on her suit. She was making her way inside the small cantina Greenling had contacted her through. He spotted Greenling sitting alone at a table in the back, looking wary as Delta-Green advanced.

He turned to his other surveillance screens for a moment, checking the camera's set up around the cantina for any sign of the Resistance or other potential problems. Normally he would not bother to perform an action so beneath his station, but in order to keep this operation as quiet as possible, Hux was required to play more than one role.

Seeing nothing that could turn problematic, Hux returned to Delta-Green's bodycam watching Greenling stand when she came to a stop in front of him.

"Sit down Greenling." Delta-Green's voice came through crystal clear thanks to the new tech Hux had been overseeing. He smirked in satisfaction.

"You abandoned your post. You may have compromised your partner. I hope you have good reason for this." For a moment, Hux thought he sensed some guilt in Greenling's features, but he nodded confidently, his face otherwise impassive.

"There is a bylaw within the spymasters that allows for the release of a family in exchange for certain information. I believe I hold information that will be extremely useful to whoever you are working for." Hux was sure Delta-Green was raising an eyebrow, just as he was.

"And?" Greenling sat forward in his seat, folding his arms on the small table.

"I would like to request my family's freedom in exchange for this information." Hux was impressed. This man was clearly very sure of his intell, but he would be let down. Delta-Green was about to shut him down. Incidentally, that was one of Hux's favorite things to do. Crush confident spirits. Ah. Here it comes.

"Yes. Well, Greenling, that only works in certain situations." Her tone was icy as she continued, "And in this instance, you are currently on a mission, and thus any intel you bring us is already required and will receive no extra payment." Hux waited for Greenling's shoulders to slump or to see a slight frown appear on his lips but nothing changed.

"I do understand. However, my mission was to collect any and all information I could on the scavenger Rey. What I have pertains to the current Supreme Leader. Kylo Ren." Hux stiffened in shock. Then he jabbed the com and barked, "Whatever it takes Green. Whatever it takes."

Delta-Green flinched, presumably at Hux's sudden command in her ear. He cared not. Hux wanted-needed, anything and everything he could use. Delta-Green paused for a moment before she replied.

"Fine. If I find your intel to be profitable, we can make the trade."

"Isn't that your employer's decision?" Hux could tell Delta-Green didn't like having her authority undermined, but she responded, "It has already been approved. Now, please explain."

Congruent with Hux's disgusting and power-hunger personality, it was things like this that got him excited. His heart sped up, and he licked his lips in anticipation. As if he somehow knew the power he was holding over Hux in this moment, a slight smile appeared on his lips, and Greenling told his tale.


The training room was destroyed. Kylo supposed Hux would be frustrated, but at this point he was beyond caring. Besides, Hux had disappeared and cancelled their meetings for the rest of the day. In a way it was his fault Kylo had nothing else to occupy his time with.

In the meantime, he was still struggling to rid himself of this rage. Deciding he needed someone to spar with, he opened the doors for a moment to summon one of his guards. Sparring helped him focus, and if he wasn't any calmer after fighting this guard, there were seven other replacements.

His crimson-clothed opponent turned to face him, and Kylo expanding his crackling lightsaber in response.


They were running low on energy, and options. Rose and Rey had found and explained everything to Poe, who sent a few trusted members after Carson, but he was long gone, just as they had predicted. Since then, a small select group containing Poe, Chewie, Finn, Rose, Rey, and Kaydel Ko Connix, gathered to access their current members.

And they were coming up with nothing. Which was either a good thing or a bad thing, and because of the uncertainty, the mood was somber.

After they had exhausted their memories of the members, they had to deal with switching and changing missions, alerting allies of what had happened, and they had to be very careful about it all.

They all agreed that Carson had been a spy, and had to assume that he was telling some organization everything he knew about the Resistance. The other question was concerning Carson's employer. It was widely agreed upon that the First Order was somehow part of this. Rey personally agreed partially, but also somehow knew that Ben hadn't known about Carson. Which most likely meant he was there, spying for a specific person as opposed to an organization. Finn seemed to be having similar thoughts.

"The First Order doesn't directly employ spies, they have their own teams for that. But I do know that some generals have been known to work with spymasters. They prefer to hold certain information until someone actually needs it. It helps them gain power." Rose spoke up, "So he could have been working for a spymaster. Is it possible we could hire our own spymaster to answer any of our questions?"

"Hah. Good luck with that. Spymasters only make themselves known to the very powerful and very wealthy. None of us would even have a chance at meeting a spymaster."

"I happen to know a spymaster. Or at least I did." Everyone looked to Poe in surprise.

"I could try to get into contact. See if they might be able to help out." While Rey wanted to know how Poe knew a supposedly intangible spymaster, she said nothing. No one disagreed with the idea, pushing the discussion forward. Kaydel who had been quiet for a few minutes, seemingly deep in thought, now spoke up.

"There is something a little odd about the whole Carson thing. He seemed pretty fixated on Rey. Has anyone else thought of that?" Rey looked to her left as both Finn and Poe started to nod slowly.

"You're right Kay. I guess we all assumed it was because he liked her-or we were supposed to believe that-but yeah. He did ask about Rey a lot. Sometimes he even asked things I was pretty sure he already knew. I just thought that he liked hearing about Rey or something." It was silent for a moment before Rose commented, "So are we theorizing that he was focusing on Rey? And no offense Rey, but why would he focus on you?"

"None taken," Rey grinned at Rose, "I was wondering the same thing. I mean, technically I have my own agenda and priorities. Why not target Poe? He's the leader." Once again heads nodded in agreement around the room.

"Well could it be that he-and whoever he was working for-thought that Rey would be an easier target? If you're romantically involved with someone, you might be more likely to share secrets. And we can all agree Carson's fixation was apparently romantic. That ploy wouldn't have worked with Poe, eh Poe?" Kaydel finished jokingly, laughing the group looked to Poe for his retort. Instead his face was reddened and he uncharacteristically struggled for words. There were more important things to think about, but Rey mentally put this moment away to examine some other time. Poe finally spit out a response.

"Right. Yeah-yeah. That wouldn't have worked on me." The awkwardness in the room lasted for only a moment when Rey almost fell off her chair in surprise.

"Rey! Is something wrong?" Finn looked concerned. It was Rey's turn to blush and stutter as she tried to explain herself.

"I just uh-thought there was a spider crawling on me." Finn who knew that Rey actually liked spiders, looked suspicious, while Rose tilted her head at Rey. She nodded slightly in acknowledgment of Rose's silent question. Ben was here.


Kylo was on his bed attempting to meditate, when he felt the familiar tugging. The feeling pulled him along a bright line that existed inside the Force, connected him and Rey. He opened his eyes to see her across the room from him, stuttering something about a spider.

Upon seeing her Kylo felt the sudden urge to rush over and wrap her in his arms. That made him scowl. All these impulses he had concerning Rey needed to stop. No good would come of them. Instead he stayed in place, looking over her carefully, checking for any problems. He didn't know what to say after everything that had happened, but was saved by Rey's whisper in his mind.

"I think this will work. Is it working?" Kylo nodded but Rey wasn't looking at him.

"Yes. Is there a reason that we aren't talking out loud?"

"I'm in a meeting right now. We've never really connected around other people, do you think they would hear you if they can't see you?" Kylo had been wondering the same thing.

"I have no idea. Maybe we should check."

"Okay. Just make a sound or something." He coughed in response, then waited for Rey's reaction.

"No one heard you. Very interesting." This made Kylo laugh. Rey's face reddened and he waited as she made a comment about being too warm.

"What is so funny?"

"It just used to be me wondering about our bond and wanting to experiment. I found it humorous I suppose." Rey nodded, but he wasn't sure it was meant for him.

"Is there someone in front of me? Or behind me?"

"Yeah. You're right behind Finn."

"Ah. The traitor. He's still alive then?" Rey shot him a glare.

"Yes. He's very much alive and very much my friend. So leave him alone." Kylo lifted his hands in mock surrender. Someone must have noticed Rey glaring as she said, "I was just thinking. About things. Stuff." Kylo grinned. He liked seeing Rey uncomfortable.

"I'm going to finish this meeting. Can we talk later?"

"Of course. I'll be here." She faded from view and left Kylo on his bed, contemplating the way her presence affected him and seemed to completely turn him around.


Carson stood and shook Recon's hand. A deal had been made. His family would be released, and sent somewhere far away. He in turn would give a briefing encasing his operation and then have the mandatory three month wait between his next mission. During which he would be briefed and trained, while waiting for his previous alias to be erased. He doubted anyone would mourn the loss of Carson now. If he hadn't pulled out, his character would have continued on in the Resistance, where he would have eventually been "killed". Resulting in sadness for the people he had befriended, but neatly wrapping up his mission, ensuring he and his intel would get back to the spymasters safely.

On the way to the door, he eyed the room carefully. He hadn't noticed anyone tuning in on their conversation, but you could never be too careful. Especially with what he had just shared. If his findings were used elsewhere, his trade would be cancelled. Possibly risking his family's safety. Not that the trade was very safe from the start but he knew the information was valuable. Even more valuable if Carson was right, and Recon was employed by someone in the First Order.

He followed Recon out of the cantina, careful to reach out around him, checking over their surroundings. Sensing nothing amiss he attempted to question Recon.

"So, where will I be stationed this time?" She said nothing, eyes ahead as they neared a small hangar.

"Fine, I know it's classified. But I was just wondering what character I'll be playing this time. Hopefully someone more interesting than 'Carson' the friendly blonde." Recon stopped and gave him a sharp look.

"You know you are to remain in character until the blood transfer. Cutting this deal does not make your situation any different." He refrained from rolling his eyes or talking back and instead nodded. Recon started forward once more, and Carson was careful to stay a few steps behind her as they made their way towards her ship. The next mission couldn't come any sooner. Carson has such an insipid personality.


Hux was still sitting in the hidden compartment when the ship took off. His mind was still buzzing after learning what Greenling had found. He cares for the girl. How careless of him. Of course Hux didn't expect any different of Ren. He rarely thought things through in the first place, and would never be described as thoughtless. He practically destroyed everything he touched. And now it would be the scavenger girl who destroyed him.

His original plan was still going to work. It just needed some small adjustments. And he needed to ensure Greenling's employment would not be traced back to him. But for now, he needed Greenling to show him everything he had seen. Obviously he needed to see this for himself. He might even keep Greenling around. Or maybe not. Greenling's fate wasn't his top priority at the moment. The downfall of Kylo Ren was. And absolutely nothing was going to get in his way. Not now.


Poe followed the group out the door, silent and deep in thought like the others. Changes were going to be made very quickly and everyone had a job. He was in charge of contacting their suppliers and finding a way to transfer everything for the time being. Finn and Rose were teamed up to transition the families and younglings, Kaydel would warn allies and visit places that could not be contacted. Chewie would take care of placing any stragglers that didn't fall under Finn and Rose's group, while Rey would make her way through their ranks, searching for spies.

There was a lot to get done, and on top of it all Poe's innards felt like they were being put through a processor. He rarely felt this anxious but the thought of contacting Tayo was messing with him. Things hadn't ended well the last time they saw each other, and though he knew this was their only chance of getting info from the spymasters, Poe was scared. He had to trust that Tayo wouldn't turn on him.

"Sorry guys, I just had one last thought." They stopped for a moment and looked towards Rose who was looking thoughtful.

"We've assumed many things about Carson, including that he must have used the force to somehow sneak his way inside. So could we assume that there could be another spy that is force-sensitive?" Poe thought this was completely logical, and Rey must have agreed.

"I'll start with my group then. I was planning on going over any records we have, and then working from there. I'll start with my group then." She sounded upset by this, but Poe figured they all were. It was hard enough trying to rebuild something like the Resistance. It didn't make it any easier if you had to be wary of the people you were supposed to work with.

Poe felt like this was a moment when he was supposed to say something leader-like, to assure everyone.

"I know this is hard guys. And I regret that I didn't have to foresight to anticipate spies. I feel like that was usually something the older, more experienced leaders would dealt with. We're all so young. Except for Chewie. How old are you anyways?"

"Gwwaarrgg." Everyone looked to him in suprise.

"How are you still alive!?" Now everyone looked to Finn in surprise. He grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry. I just was wondering cause you know, he must have lived through a lot. Probably multiple wars." He turned to Chewie, "Why don't you talk about your life more often?" Chewie growled in exasperation.


Rey had taken a copy of Poe's database and was in her room going through it, starting in the beginning. It was a lot. She knew she should have kept working on the records, but when Ben showed up, she allowed herself to abandon her work.

He appeared to be sitting on her bed, eating something with his legs crossed. The sudden thought of food made her stomach growl and she debated whether she wanted to talk to Ben or go get dinner. He smiled at her as if reading her thoughts, and then presented a solution.

"We can share if you want." She approached him curiously.

"Would that even work?"

"We can try. I have plenty." She sat across from him on the bed and crossed her legs like his.

"You're not going to poison me are you?" Rey asked jokingly. He chuckled then, giving Rey's stomach a funny feeling she distinctly knew wasn't hunger. He had gotten up to grab what she assumed was more food, leaving her a moment to take in his outfit. He was wearing a loose fitting gray tunic, with comfy looking black pants. It was probably the most informal thing she'd ever seen him wear. Except for that one time. The sudden image of Ben shirtless made her whole body flush with heat and she struggled to regain her composure.

He returned to the bed and sat back down.

"Are you sitting on your bed?"

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yeah. Don't you think it's funny how the bond places us? I mean, why don't we appear to be floating or upside down or something?" Rey laughed at the image that conjured. Ben grinned at her and continued, "I'm just saying, this whole thing seems pretty convenient to me. I'd say we're pretty lucky." She looked at him carefully, taking in the calm that seemed to surround him. She reached out to touch his hand and softly said, "We are pretty lucky." He met her eyes for a moment, before Rey got distracted by an amazing smell and realized she could see the food he had amassed. There was a small table set up next to his bed, covered in plates of food. She couldn't identify half of it if she tried. But she could try to eat half of it.

"Wow! You really do have plenty." She looked at him for permission and at his nod, reached for some sort of fruit, letting go of his hand. The table disappeared before she could touch it, and for a moment she was confused. Ah. Maintaining contact. Then she moved forward, sitting a little closer and took his hand, watching as the food appeared before her. She grinned in satisfaction, and reached for the fruit.

"I suppose we can just eat one handed then." Ben smiled down at her before reaching for his own plate of food.

"What is this I'm about to eat?"

"A pear. We grow them in greenhouses so we don't have to source them."

"Interesting." It was kind of interesting, but Rey was hungry so she stopped talking and started eating.


Some time later they were both full forcing Kylo to let go of her hand when he sent for someone to take the food away. He already missed the contact they had maintained while eating, and not only that but he was amazed at the amount of foods that Rey had never tried, and told himself to request a wider range of food from now on.

Making sure the door was closed and locked, Kylo turned back towards his bed and laid down with his arm behind his head. Rey flopped down beside him, sighing contentedly as he threaded his fingers through hers.

"So Carson was a spy or something. We think that he was working for the spymasters. We also think that for whatever reason he was focused on me. So that's great. And now he knows about our connection and I'm not entirely sure what he's going to do with that information." Kylo thought about this for a moment before realizing something that made him tense up.

"What?"

"It's possible that he's working for Hux. I know he uses spymasters often, and he's been desperate for any information about you. It would make sense."

"That would fit. But what does he hope to gain from any of this information?"

"It makes him uncomfortable. Not knowing the enemy. He can usually profile someone and guess the choices they'll make, which helps him stay one step ahead. But he didn't know anything about you."

"He sounds pretty smart." Kylo scoffed.

"Yeah. And pretty annoying."

"Well based on Carson we're assuming that there are other spies in our group. You wouldn't happen to know anything would you?" Kylo turned his head to grin at her, knowing she was joking but still answered.

"What makes you think I would tell you?" Now it was Rey's turn to grin at him.

"Because we're friends." He looked at their intertwined hands before responding quietly, "Something like that." Now she was looking at their hands. He cleared his throat, returning his eyes to the ceiling.

"Anyways, I wouldn't be able to help if I wanted. I actually don't really deal with the Resistance at all. Hux thought it would be wise for me to focus on other things."

"What about when you came to Jakku?"

"Ah. Yes. Well. I had agreed with Hux, except that I wanted to be privy to anything regarding you." His face heated a little, but Rey moved on.

"Huh. So does any of this mean Hux is going to come after me specifically?"

"I'd say yes, he thinks you're the one who killed Snoke. Because of that he's probably more interested in you than other Resistance members. But if he is the one who's using Carson, and he knows about our connection, he might also want to use you against me." That part really had Kylo worried. Usually he could deal with Hux himself, but he was starting to understand that if Rey was involved, he might not have as much luck.

"Is he trying to get rid of you or something?" That made him laugh.

"Of course. Hux has always hated me, but he can't kill me. Not to mention if I was gone he would be Supreme Leader. So I'd say he's definitely trying to get rid of me. I wouldn't be surprised if he has a whole scheme in the works."

"You don't sound very worried about him then."
"I can take care of myself. But I would be worried if he tried to use you." Rey was quiet for a moment before saying, "I would be worried if someone tried to use you against me too." She let go of his hand and was suddenly laying against him, with her arms around her waist. He was just as surprised as he had been last night, but didn't hesitate to hug her back.

"What are we going to do then?"

"There's not much we can do. Just be prepared I guess, and watchful. Stay close to the people you trust, they'll keep you safe." She moved her head a little to look at him.

"Who's going to keep you safe?" He didn't really have an answer to the question. She seemed to understand that, so she continued.

"Does this mean we're working together now? We make a pretty good team."

"Yeah. We do." He unconsciously stroked her back with his hand as he thought, we would be unstoppable if you were by my side.

"Can we go to sleep now?" He nodded, careful not to disrupt her head laying on his chest.

It wasn't long before they were both asleep.


Finn was leaving dinner deep in thought when he spotted a familiar looking person slipping around the corner and down the hallway. His mind on overdrive he ran back into the cafeteria.

"ROSE!" She and the entire room, looked up to see his frenzied expression. She dropped her fork, getting up without question and followed him out. He ran down the hallway, not bothering to explain. She would understand soon enough.


A/N: So, who do you think Finn saw? He seemed pretty upset.

On another note, I know my new chapters aren't very consistent. I'm no good with time management, but this story will keep going until it ends. No matter how long it takes me to write! That's all for today folks :D