Hello my friends it has been waaaay too long. I'm so sorry for the delay, but I suffered from a MAJOR fritters block! Anywho, I hope you enjoy this chapter and that it isn't too lame! Thank you gain for all the support! You guys motivate me to keep writing this story. Enjoy!

When he finally came to he was surrounded in darkness. He reached out but there wasn't anything to lock onto. He reached out again desperately trying to find Rey, but he was met with harsh silence. The force was silent for the first time in his life. He should be relieved, he was before, but now he felt only a dull ache in his temples. He shifted around the dark room, trying to find some kind of light switch when he came to a halt. The collar around his neck was now making a strange beeping sound as if it were warning him. He eased his sore muscles further and further until the beeping grew more consistent. As his hand finally met what he assumed was a light switch, the collar caused a strong wave of electricity to corse through him. He dropped to the floor instantly, cursing under his breath as he waited out the electrical shock.

Above him, the lights began to shift, infiltrating the darkness slowly until the room was light again. Squinting his eyes, Ben tried to take in all of his surroundings. He appeared to be in some makeshift supply closet based on the cleaning supplies and used,oily rags. As soon as his muscles stopped twitching, he made a move to get up, that was until the door knob started to move.

Thinking fast through the fog of not having the force to rely on, Ben grasped the handle of a broom, quickly breaking off the bristled end. He then turned to settle in the only empty corner, making sure the broom was close by as the door slowly creaked open. His eyes were closed as he listened for the oncoming footfall. Soft, slow steps were made in his direction after the door was clicked shut. Force, this would be a lot easier if he could hone into the force he thought as he tried to time the perfect time to act. His hand twitched as he felt a figure crouch next to him. He may not have the force to guide him but he had his size and sheer strength to utilize as he shifted the broom in his hand and shot towards the figure.

He grunted as someone kicked him swiftly in the ribs, but he pushed back with vigor until he had them pressed up against the wall, broom handle to throat as they let out a wince. His brown eyes met hazel in a panic as his assailant croaked

"You're still mad at me I see."

He blinked back at her in surprise

"Rey?"

He watched as she comically raised a brow, looking down where his hands held the broom and then looked back up before asking

"Could you please put the broom down?"

He slowly lowered the makeshift weapon, but found it hard to relax given the circumstance he awoke to. He really had no idea what was going on for once and it was very unsettling to him. He had no control.

"Could you tell me what the hell is going on?"

She snapped her head to him, stilling him in place with a sharp glare as she whispered

"Keep your voice down."

Once she was sure he wasn't going to burst out again, she leaned over to pick up a worn satchel bag that had probably dropped during their little situation. He watched as she pulled out some ration bars and a container of something he wasn't sure he wanted to know the contents of. She outstretched her arm to him, offering the objects as she spoke

"Here I brought you something to eat, you're probably starving."

He gladly accepted them, stomach growling in response as he ripped open a bar and took a bite of it. It tasted like cardboard, but he had consumed worse. Plus, he needed to keep his strength up. Between bites, he questioned

"How long have I been out?"

Rey looked down at her interlaced fingers as she responded

"Twenty hours."

He practically spat out the ration bar at that.

"What the-"

He was quickly cut off from sharing the long string of curse words that he had stacking up for a while. However, Rey's chipper accent cut him off before he could manage, shooting him a daring eyebrow as she spoke

"Believe me I tried to wake you up. You're a heavy sleeper."

He raised one eyebrow at her in confusion as he replied

"That's a first."

When she didn't fully get his joke, he moved on, motioning to the device still tightly wrapped around his neck.

"Now would you tell me what is going on and why you forced a force dampener around my neck?"

He watched her shrug it off as if it were a casual occurrence before responding

"I had to make it seem like you were clueless. If I let you in on the plan you would probably end up killing someone.

For the millionth time in the presence of Rey, he was completely lost. What in the world was she even talking about anymore. Maybe all that Jedi training got to her head or something? There had been stories of people who went off the deep end, maybe she did?

"What plan?"

She looked at him as if she heard every word he just thought out loud. She may very well have… wait no. Scratch that. She closed the bond between them. He turned his attention back to her

"We need the location on Snoke. Ava just so happens to be one of his henchmen."

As if trying to find her himself, Ben looked around the small room as he inquired curiously

"Where is she now?"

Rey's lips curved into a smirk as she replied

"In the actual supply closet."

He practically rolled his eyes at that. Truly he liked it when Rey cracked jones with him. It made him feel as if they actually had a friendship, like she didn't hate him for the time being. When he remained silent, She continued, mistaking his silence for anger. Alright, maybe he was a little angry. More irritated than anything. This force dampener was damn uncomfortable and he was starting to itch without the force at his beck and call.

"Look, I tried to tell you, but it had to be me. She already didn't trust you."

He quirked a brow at her in surprise.

"Did you get anything yet?"

He watched Rey as she comically looked over at him, blush tinting her cheeks in the most flattering of ways. Man he really needs to stop staring at her, but he just can't seem to do so. This is detrimental to his own health he knows it. There is no way she would ever trust him again, let alone have feelings for him.

"No. I was hoping you would play bad cop?"

He let out a laugh. An actually laugh out loud, something he hadn't done for years. Come to think of it, when was the last time he actually laughed. Not on the Supremacy that was for sure. Definitely not in the presence of any of those creatures he worked with - or the supreme leader for that matter. Clearing his throat, he finally responded.

"I don't think that will be necessary."

He watched as Rey's expression changed as if she were closing off again. Great, nice job Ben. The point was to get her to like you more, not to push her away.

"Okay, yeah. Bad joke."

He cursed himself for a second before he tried to explain,

"No Rey- I mean I don't think we should go after Snoke. At least not yet. I don't know if we can face him alone."

She looked up at him completely baffled. He allowed himself a small smirk at the clear height difference as she craned her neck to look up at him.

"What do you mean? You did say we were running out of time didn't you?"

His smirk quickly faded as he remembered the brevity of the situation at hand. He continued to explain himself and his actions to the petite Jedi.

"Yes…. but he's not going to be the same as he was before."

Rey's hands shot to her hips

"What do you mean? He's not going to be the same meniacal creep?"

He snorted a moment at Rey's blatant sarcasm before continuing,

"That might be the same, but he's going to be more powerful than before. This might sound crazy, but I think he planned his death from the beginning in order to fit into some grandeur plan."

She turned on him, hands dropping from her hips. She wasn't angry with him? That was a first if he was being honest with himself. It's really only a matter of time before he upsets her. He watched her carefully as she responded,

"Well what do we do now?"

He shifted past her in the small hallway as he made his way towards the cockpit. He replied to her as casually as he could manage

"We dump Ava."

Here we go, he thought to himself as he could practically feel Rey's anger spark, even with the force dampener on.

"Ben she has a daughter."

Turning quickly on his heels, he looked down at her and shot back

"She's a bounty hunter and a very skilled liar."

Man they were like fire and ice. He was beginning to think going after her was a horrible idea with the amount they fought, but who was he kidding. He couldn't live without her. Literally. If the force bond broke, he was as good as dead. That wasn't the only reason though. But he tried to push that other reason aside, it would not help, just cause destruction and chaos. Right now, he focused on Rey's scrunched eyebrows as she defended their new prisoner.

"She wasn't lying! I looked into her mind when she was out cold. Snoke is baiting her too."

He watched her eyes fill with something. She was telling the truth and he believed her. Ben shrugged his shoulders at that as he replied to the fiery brunette

"Then we convince her to join us."

He watched as Rey's expression quickly shifted from anger to surprise. She looked him up and down suspiciously as if he would change his mind. He wasn't going to.

"Really?"

He nodded back, "Yeah."

As he turned around and continued to head back to the cockpit, Rey continued to question,

"That's your plan?"

He was growing irritated now. He hated when people second guessed his intentions because it made him think he made the wrong choice. He grumbled back a quick, "Yeah."

"Hmm"

He stopped at that. He didn't feel like turning around again, but he didn't anyways just to see what on earth she was thinking. Did she still not trust him? Even after he let her clasp a force dampening collar around his neck? Speaking of, this think was starting to itch. He began, "Wh-"

But he was quickly cut off,

"I have to go check on Ava. Maybe we can at least talk some sense into her."

He watched her turn around and head back in the opposite direction. He tried to reach out in the force, but the damn collar was still on. He yelled across the ship, "Rey!"

She turned quickly on her heels, shocked by the sudden outburst

"What?"

He glared daggers at her as he shifted his gaze from the collar to her and back again,

"Would you please take this force forsaken thing off of me?"

He watched her smile widely as she made her way back towards him. When she was closer she began to tease,

"Hmmm…. I could. Or I could just leave it on. It's kind of fun watching you struggle."

When he glared back at her, she aquiessed, shooting her hands up as she worked on the device

"Okay, okay fine. Hold still."

—

Interrogating people was never a strong suit for her. Maybe because she had experience as the person being interrogated or maybe it simply stood against everything she believed, but nevertheless she hated it. Ben was better at this then her, but she doubted he would be able to keep a level head - that he wouldn't end up getting physical. She sighed as she turned the knob on the door. There was no going back now. She entered the room silently, but the trained bounty hunter did not skip a beat. Ava shifted to turn her head at Rey as she questioned grimly,

"What do you want?"

Taking up a single chair, Rey pulled it towards her with the force and sat in front of Ava who was handcuffed to a spare metal pole in the ground.

"I just want to talk."

The young woman turned her head away as if she were expecting Rey to lash out as she replied,

"I'm not telling you anything."

She could feel herself growing more irritated by the moment. She took a deep breathe to calm the fire quelling inside her as she began,

"Look Ava - if that's even your real name - we're on the same side really. And we both know we'd all be better off with Snoke six feet below the surface."

Ava shot back with fire,

"I will not risk the life of my daughter for a pair of force users like you two, let alone the psycopathic murderer."

Rey was quick to act. This she could do. She could easily emphasize with others. She began in a soft voice,

"Your daughter will be fine, I promise you."

She watched as Ava's face crumpled and a tear escaped her.

"I just- She's all I have left."

Rey reached forward, taking up the woman's hand as she reassured

"I understand and I promise you nothing will happen to her."

Ava looked back up at her through teary eyes

"What do you want me to do?"

—

Moments later, when Rey had managed to compose herself, she made her way back into the cockpit where she knew Ben was waiting patiently. As soon as she entered, he shifted in the pilots chair and looked her in the eyes searching for something as he asked,

"What did you get?"

Rey nodded to him as she took a seat in the co-pilot seat next to him

"I think she's on board. As long as we are able to locate and retrieve her daughter."

Ben hesitated a second before continuing

"Where is she?"

She took a deep breathe in and let it out before she managed to say,

"Jakku."

She watched carefully as his massive shoulders dropped and his deep voice softened significantly as he looked down at her

"Rey."

She was starting to grow uncomfortable under his soft gaze

"What?"

When he didn't reply she continued, trying to explain

"I'm fine Ben."

"Then why won't you look at me?"

Her eyes finally lifted up and she was filled with a pain she had grown accustomed to feeling when she remembered the Supremacy. The look on in his eyes was the same, soft and full off emotion.

"Because I'm really trying not to hold what you said about my parents on the Supremacy against you."

His eyes seemed to fill with hurt as he tried to explain himself to her

"I only wanted you to know the truth."

Something inside her had snapped. All the emotion was flooding back now and she could not hold it back as she lashed out at him

"Why? So I could join you? Because you knew I was vulnerable and alone?"

She watched something snap inside of him as he lashed back, but he was not anger. He was full of passion and truth and the way he spoke chilled her down to the core.

"Because I care about you! You kept running around looking for someone to be there for you and no one ever was going to be that for you. I couldn't just sit back and watch you get hurt time after time by people who were undeserving of you to begin with. None of them saw the potential in you - they all underestimated you and I couldn't take it anymore!"

Speechless. She was utterly speechless. When she finally found her voice it was soft and barely above a whisper,

"Ben."

He turned his back to her as he spoke

"Set course for Jakku. I'll take care of retrieving Ava's daughter, you just make sure we get there in one piece."

She blinked away the tears that were beginning to form as she croaked out,

"You would do that for me?"

He turned back towards her, brown eyes meeting hers

"Yes."

She bagan, "Ben I-"

He quickly cut her off, his eyes briefly shifting the the dog tag around her neck as he spoke

"Look you should probably get some rest. I'll get everything ready."

She was caught off guard. Especially after that declaration. Maybe he just needed time? She simply nodded, trying not to sound hurt

"Okay, yeah."

He began to walk away, but she wasn't ready to see him leave just yet. Not with out saying something.

"Ben?"

He turned his head back behind him to look at her. Dark locked spilling inside his eyes as he looked at her expectantly. She gave him a small smile as she continued,

"Thanks."

—

When she was sure Ben was out of earshot, she pulled out the device she had concealed on her and quickly typed out her message

"General we had a bit of a delay, but I think I'm starting to get somewhere with him. I'll send the rest of the information in a holo attachment. Rey."