A/N: Hi everyone!
We finally made it to chapter 10- huzzah!
I wanted to thank everyone for the comments and kind words- I can't begin to say how much it means and how motivational it can be haha. For any who are interested, the idea for Rey's reaction to the holocron came from my research into infrasonic sound. It's a frequency below the range the human ear can detect and can cause some pretty neat reactions like feelings of unease and even nausea. Funny the things that inspire you...
ANYWHO-
This is more of a lighthearted chapter that I hope you all enjoy! Let me know what you think.
"Rey!"
Kylo had wedged himself against the wall of the Silencer, both hands clinging tight to the cable running along the ceiling. Rey ignored his cry and leaned harder into the yoke, giving it a quick twist and spinning the craft out of the way of a floating asteroid.
"Rey!"
"Keep quiet will you," she said. "I'm trying to concentrate."
"Slow down!"
"No way," she shot back at him. "I've seen the way you fly. This is nothing."
"Yes, but I'm in the pilot's seat when I fly like this. Strapped in!"
Rey grinned and twisted hard, swinging the back end of the fighter around until she was facing in the opposite direction of seconds before. There was a satisfying thud behind her and a strong oath from Kylo.
"That's it," he said. "Flight training's over. Out of the pilot seat."
"But you promised an hour."
"That was before I knocked my head against the wall. I'm going to have a knot the size of a convor egg."
"You should have held on tighter."
"No, you should have slowed down."
Rey crossed her arms and refused to budge out of the seat. It had been a week since she'd arrived on the Finalizer and a week since she'd last piloted anything. She wasn't about to give ground on this.
"Up," Kylo said, "or I'll pull you out."
That gave her pause, but she decided to call his bluff. She raised her chin a fraction of an inch and looked him dead in the eye.
"No. I'm staying put."
Her eyes widened as he took a step forward, arms reaching to pull her out of the pilot's seat. She scrambled out before he could touch her and he plopped down into it with a self-satisfied smile. Rey let out a low grumble of irritation and sat against the wall, back straight and head high.
"Do I get to fly again?" she asked.
"Not the Silencer."
Rey scowled.
"I didn't hurt it," she said, "Your thick head was the only thing that might have caused a dent."
"Be kind," he said, rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.
They both jumped in surprise as Kylo's commlink went off in his pocket. He pulled it out and flicked it open, looking at the screen before he pressed the button to answer the call.
"Yes, Hux?" he asked, voice less than ingratiating.
"Where are you?" the man shouted.
Rey winced.
"I'm out on a flight," Kylo said.
"Please tell me you're not on a joyride with that scavenger."
"It's called flight training, Hux," Kylo said. "And she's my apprentice, so show some respect, will you."
"Yes, Supreme Leader."
Rey could hear the general's displeasure and stifled a laugh. She was learning to share Kylo's grim delight in aggravating Armitage Hux.
"You're needed on the bridge, so cut it short and get back here."
"Is that how you talk to your Supreme Leader?"
"Get back here, sir."
"Better, Hux, but I don't approve of your tone. We'll be there in ten minutes."
There was a loud, exasperated exhalation and a muffled curse from the comm and the communication switched off. Kylo started to chuckle to himself as he piloted the craft back into the hangar on the underbelly of the Finalizer and Rey had to bite back her own laughter. The animosity between the two was no secret and was something she'd noticed her first day aboard, but it did provide a few moments of amusement.
The Silencer was just easing into its dock when Rey's ears caught a high whining noise and the ship wobbled. Kylo groaned and powered the craft down.
"Not again."
"What?"
"The far right thruster array sounds like it just went out again. This'll be the third time in a year."
Rey felt a wide grin stretching her face.
"Can I take a look at it?" she asked. "Please? I've always wanted to get my hands on a TIE."
"No."
"Please?" she begged. "I'll be careful, I promise."
"No."
"Come on," she whined, "I haven't picked through the innards of a machine in ages."
"You know you're not helping your case?"
"I only want to look," she lied. "Please? Under supervision from one of the mechanics?"
Kylo rolled his eyes to the ceiling, but finally relented.
"I've got to go see what Hux wants, but I'll send someone over so you can look. No touching."
Rey bounced on her heels, excitement rushing through her. Kylo returned the smile, obviously sensing her emotions. After only a week she was already growing familiar with his expressions and idiosyncrasies, immediately able to recognize his moods. It was good to see him happy, with less fear and anger than usual.
"Thank you," she said, already running for the back of the Silencer to get a look at the ion thrusters.
She was just climbing on top of the fighter, examining the panels to see which ones she could detach to get at the thrusters when a new voice drifted up to her.
"Hello?" it called. "I was told to meet someone named Rey here?"
"That's me," Rey said, flinging herself on her stomach and dangling her head over the side of the fighter so the world went upside down.
She found herself nose to nose with a girl about her own age, short dark hair cropped close to her head, a gray mechanics uniform and heavy boots covering her from the neck down.
"Hi there."
The girl grinned and twitched her fingers in a little wave.
"Good to meet you," she said, "My name's LT-2758. I only just got here- transferred from the Harbinger, you know?"
"The Harbinger?"
"Oh, it's another ship. We were in orbit over Takodana, but I was transferred here because the Finalizer was a few mechanics short, with the attack and all."
Rey was a bit overwhelmed by the speed at which LT-2758 spoke. The girl hardly seemed to take a breath.
"So what kind of an ID is Rey? Have you been here long?" asked LT-2758, "Your hair isn't cut short- is regulation dress different on this ship?"
Rey blew several strands of hair off her forehead in exasperation. She could hardly get a word in edgewise; the girl was speaking so quickly. LT-2758 reminded her a little bit of Finn, so she smiled and shook her head.
"I don't have an ID, and I'm not a trooper."
"Stars," said LT-2758, "If you're not a trooper on this ship, what are you?"
Her face screwed up in an expression of vague concern.
"You're not an officer, are you?"
Rey shook her head.
"I'm just a passenger."
"A passenger?" asked LT-2758 incredulously, "On this ship?"
"I'm an apprentice."
LT-2758 laughed aloud.
"So, when you said you weren't an officer, you meant you aren't one yet."
"Something like that," Rey said with a grin. "You want to help me get this thing apart?"
"Sure. What's wrong with it?"
"Sounded like one of the ion thrusters."
LT-2758 whistled through her teeth.
"That won't be an easy fix."
"I know," Rey said. "Now pass me a wrench so I can pull off these access panels."
LT-2758 pulled a wrench out of a pocket and handed it up to her. Rey glanced down at the thruster arrays, found the one that had gone bad, and quickly unbolted the access panel above it. She lowered herself into the cramped space and began to feel around in the dark.
"You got a light?" she asked the mechanic.
"Sure."
LT-2758 flicked on a small torch and passed it to her. Rey gripped the light in her teeth and shone it around the guts of the fighter.
"This is impressive," she said, voice echoing up to LT-2758. "The reactor is a thing of beauty. Gives her all the speed she needs."
"What about the solar panels?"
"From what I can see they're for charging the laser cannons," Rey called back. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to pick one of these things apart."
"You're a mechanic too?"
"Of a sort," Rey shrugged. "Never trained, but I know my way around machines."
"What did you do before you became an apprentice?"
"I was nobody, really," Rey said. "I worked as a salvager."
It was her own word for scavenger and one she liked better. It made her think that she was rescuing bits and pieces of machines. She was the one that found them to give them a new home and a new purpose. That had been her purpose on Jakku and for the first time, in the depths of a TIE fighter engine, she felt at home on the Finalizer.
"Start her up," she said, "I need to see her running."
LT-2758 swung into the cabin and started up the craft.
"Power up the thrusters!" Rey shouted over the noise of the engine.
There was a pause and then an electric cable began to throw sparks in all directions.
"Cut power! Cut power!" she shouted. "You're about to fry another array!"
The cable stopped sparking and the Silencer sank back down to the flight deck, quieting as LT-2758 cut the engines.
Rey examined the cables, wrinkling her nose at the acrid smell of burning electronics.
"They don't make things like they used to," she muttered to herself, loosening the cable and inspecting the end.
The plastic had long since been melted away and the exposed strands inside were blackened.
"You were a step away from an engine fire, Kylo Ren," she muttered, twisting the offending piece in her fingers.
The wire gave a sudden spark in her hand and she felt as though something kicked her hard in the chest. She sat down with a thump, gasping for air.
"LT-2758!"
"Sorry!" came the answering shout, "I bumped the lever."
"You could have killed me."
"I said I was sorry," the girl said, peering down through the hole in the ceiling.
Rey grumbled out a response and tossed the cable aside, studying the back of the thruster arrays.
"It looks like it's the electric cable," she said. "It's probably been short circuiting for some time, and with unreliable power it doesn't surprise me that the thruster is junk."
She nudged the back of the array with her boot and sighed.
"We've got our work cut out for us."
"Sure do," LT-2758 smiled. "So let's get started."
"Do we even have the parts?"
"You're kidding," the mechanic said. "We've got enough parts for this thing to build it twice over."
Rey grinned. That was a welcome change from Jakku, when she had to go scavenge for parts and more often than not, come back empty handed.
"I'm going to need tools, and a lot of them," Rey said.
"I'll go grab the box."
"Parts?"
"I'll have them brought over."
"Thanks."
Rey ducked back into the dark little space in the bowels of the Silencer and began to run her fingers over the wires, tracing the thick tangles back to their origins at the array.
"What a mess," she muttered, crawling among the cables and pipes, scooting on her stomach to get at the lowest bolts.
Using her fingers and the wrench, she worked the electric cables free one by one and threw them behind her into a pile. The sudden slam of a metal box full of tools landing on the floor made her jump.
"Ow!" she howled as the back of her head connected with the casing that surrounded the hyperdrive.
"Sorry!" came the response.
"LT-" she broke off with a curse. "I can't remember that many numbers. I'm calling you something else."
"Like what?" asked the girl, seeming to be startled by the suggestion.
"What about…" Rey rolled the letters around in her head, listening to their sounds. "What about Lita?"
That made LT-2758 stop with her mouth half open.
"Lita?"
"Why not?" Rey asked, rubbing her skull. "Short, sweet, sounds like your ID."
The girl gave her a half smile.
"I've never gotten a nickname before."
"So?" Rey asked, "I've had a few over my lifetime and haven't liked any of them."
"I like it."
"Well, that's good," Rey said, stretching back to reach a wrench.
Lita shook her head.
"No, you don't understand," she said. "You get a nickname when you're part of a team. When people care enough to give you something more personal than letters and numbers."
"Oh," Rey said, not sure whether she wanted to be a team with the mechanic. "I didn't know."
"I'm not terribly good at making friends," said Lita. "I had a few on the Harbinger, but with the transfer, it's hard to keep in touch."
She eyed Rey and carefully thrust out her hand.
"I think you probably need a friend too, don't you," she asked.
Images of Kylo Ren darted through Rey's mind before she could stop them. He was her Master, she reminded herself, not her friend. And Lita was right. She could use a friend.
Rey gripped the mechanic's hand and shook it.
"I think I'd like to be your friend, Lita," she said. "As long as you promise to stop trying to send me to the med bay."
Lita grinned.
"It's a deal."