Ben – Age 13

The "Y-wing Incident" was the only time Poe ever saw Ben in tears. He never expected the accident himself. Sure, the kid had a temper, and he paralyzed helpless machinery when antagonized, but he was sensitive. He knew his own strength.

So Poe thought.

He was polishing his helmet and talking with a friendly BB unit when the air swelled like a Dantooine maelstrom. The hangar doors grated open, as though Ben was impatient with their speed and had commanded them to slide faster. His boots clapped the floor as he marched inside.

"Storm's coming," Poe murmured. The BB unit roved its head uncertainly, measured its options, and skittered away.

Ben happened to turn right into the droid's path. He snarled at the delay and raised his hand, and Poe reacted without thinking. Again. Gotta stop jumping in front of the kid…. was his detached thought before he stepped between Ben and the droid. Ben's eyes widened and he drew back his hand, but not before the Force equivalent of an airbus slammed into Poe's chest.

Overhead lights swirled. Durasteel warped with the floor and Poe scarcely had time to expel his air in an 'umph!' before a Y-wing cockpit swarmed his vision. Vaguely he heard his head rap the window, but there was no pain. He rolled off the side and his arm twisted awkwardly as he fell. Something pulled the wrong way.

"Poe!" Ben shrieked.

Miraculously he landed on his feet. Weaving, Poe glanced behind him and laughed. He had spiralled into a now-dented spaceship and he was still standing. It must have looked awesome. He was invincible.

The floor tilted into grey and Poe stumbled. His knees smacked duracrete and still there was no pain. Hazily he blinked at the dark blur that ran towards him. There was two – no three – no, just one Ben Solo patting his face with thin hands as a globe of orange and white swiveled around. They gotta stop commissioning those droids… dizzying critters...

Then the crash of shock slammed him into the pavement. Dimly Poe figured he could thank Ben that he didn't land on his face. There was vertigo, a blaze suddenly ricocheting from his head to his left arm, and tingling from his calves to his heels as though he had been sitting for too long. All through the haze he heard Ben's cry for help – first a shrill ringing in his head, then fainter…softer…

He woke with the clapping alarm in his head that testified he had taken a round of drinks that didn't quite hold up to mission regulations. If Leia was my mom she'd take a hairbrush to me, aversion to spankings be hanged. She might even pull his ear in front of his mates – she had done that once before, after Poe had celebrated his birthday with the other cadets and accidentally left a bottle where Ben could find it.

Ben with hiccups… At least Han thought it was uproarious.

This headache felt a little more like Poe had set his X-wing on fire, fallen afoul of a slashrat pack, and been rescued by a blood carver. He cracked his eyes open and blinked in the dim light. Make that two slashrat packs. And a great krayt.

"How're you feeling, kid?"

Not good. What'd I drink? Poe croaked a grunt. Immediately his gut lunged into his throat and he bucked, heaving as he was yanked upright and held over the bunk. Steel swam above darker grey and hehoped he had aimed right. What an idiot he'd be, missing the trash can when it was right under his face.

"Attaboy. Let it out."

I really, really don't feel good… A moan was the only signal of distress that Poe could muster. His head reeled as he was rolled vertical again. Two great krayts. There's two of 'em. Battling. In my head. With a rancor.

"Hey, you there! Droid! Where's the pain meds you promised? Kid looks like he's going to shoot himself if he doesn't get some peace."

The voice boomed around him, shattering the grey Poe had burrowed into. Whirling gears turmbled and he vaguely saw a blur of orange before a mechanical spider-like creature loomed above him, piercing his arm with its stinger. Silt crept into his pounding head, taking the pain with it. Orange melted with the floor as the rolling blob tilted its head, and Poe fell into space.

Maybe General Solo was right to warn him. Sooner or later he was going to crash midflight.

Just like his mother.

He woke again, and this time his head didn't quite feel like a slashrat had eaten his brains. Maybe a neek was chasing its tail inside his skull. He could still function.

"Ow," Poe murmured, reaching for his head. His arm flopped to the side. Forcing his eyes open, he glared at the uncooperative limb. What's wrong with you?

A swivel followed by questioning trills directed him to the other side of the bunk. Flinging his head to the side was an effort. Blearily Poe squinted at the circular droid.

"Y'ur … BB… thirteen?" He had spoken to this droid earlier. Something about future missions and needing a good navigator. Then Ben had walked in and…. What happened?

The BB unit whistled sympathetically and moved closer. Those spinning mechanisms were really disconcerting.

"Please stop moving," Poe murmured. It sounded like 'Psstpng', but the droid seemed to get the point. Its head tilted sideways before it looked over its shoulder and beeped loudly.

"Ndntlk," Poe added, hoping the droid could decrypt his mumble. No more talking, please. Or beeping.

"He's awake, BB-8?"

Poe thought he misheard the voice. He knew he had. Ech'ban could do a fairly decent imitation of Han Solo.

Greying hair, tall boots, and a leather jacket lined the doorway. Kriff, I really did finagle with disaster this time! Poe pushed himself to one elbow, trying to remember. I was in the hangar, and … Ben. Did I hit him? I don't think I was flying. Did he get into a fight and drag me into it? That would explain the rancor in his skull.

"Kid, lay down," Han ordered exasperatedly. "You're out of your head, all right? No need to give yourself another split in your scalp on my account."

Ow. "S'gonon?" Would someone please tell me what's going on?

Han was solemn as he crouched beside the droid. BB-8… that's what it was.

"What do you remember, kid?"

Spinning lights. A Y-wing. He'd been invincible. Apparently not.

"Ship," Poe rasped. "Head."

"Yeah…." Han's right eye twitched. "About that…. You flew into a Y-wing cockpit. Knocked your head pretty bad, dislocated your shoulder, and just about paralyzed your legs falling off – you'll be fine," he added when Poe started to gasp. "They immersed you in bacta, and Luke took a hand in some … Force-technique, whatever he calls it. No flying for a while, but you should recover without further complications."

Something was missing. "Ben?" Poe realized, looking around the room. Disappointment filled him. He didn't care to see me this time.

Han sighed pensively. "You don't remember much, do you?"

"D'I htm?" Tell me I didn't drop an X-wing on him.

Han looked at BB-12 – BB-13, Poe reminded himself, who bleeped a reply.

"Hit him?" Han repeated. "No, he's fine."

So why isn't he here? Poe let out a slow gust. Ben was tired of his companionship, apparently. He'd been outgrowing friends for years, and Poe was the last to go. He shouldn't be surprised.

"Uh… I'll let you two talk later," Han said elusively as he rose. "He's … he's tired right now. Once you're up to it, I'll send him in."

Why doesn't he want to talk to me? Did we argue again? He said he was glad Mom and Dad crashed last time. Is he still angry with me? I don't….

Confusion whirled into blankness. Unwillingly Poe let go.

The next time Poe opened his eyes, the room was stable. A stern voice was scolding the medical droid, ranting about insufficient data and upgrading the medical logs. Poe lifted his shoulders high enough to roll his head, wincing at the stiffness in his neck. Gotta stop sleeping in so late.

His eyes settled on the BB unit and he groaned. "Am I here b'cause of you?"

The lecturing stopped. "Poe?"

Oh, kriff. Now the General was onto him. I drugged their son, didn't I? I don't know how I did it, but somehow…

Leia's touch was gentle as she pressed a hand to Poe's forehead. He forgot to feel guilty and leaned into it. "M…" he stopped himself before he could betray her memory by giving the name to another.

Worry was softened by intuition and Leia rubbed Poe's shoulder, coaxing the last dark threads from his mind. "You've been drifting for three weeks. Luke warned me you wouldn't be fully aware when you woke."

"M'aware," Poe argued. "D'I hit my head?" Why was she here? Ben's mother would have been hovering over her son for weeks on end. General Solo didn't have time to sit beside every injured pilot.

Leia's hand stilled and her face grew stern. Poe swallowed, but the general looked over her shoulder. "Come inside, Ben."

Scuffed boots skidded reluctantly and thin fingers clutched the doorframe as a tousled, neglected mop of black hair turned the corner. Leia beckoned with one finger and Ben dragged himself into the room. His eyes were fixed on the duracrete floor. When Leia cleared her throat he shuffled closer, veering around BB-8. The droid rolled closer to Poe.

"Somethin' happen here?" Poe fumbled the words.

"Ben."

One curt word from his mother, and Ben raised his head. Chestnut eyes were torn with misery. Bravely he raised his chin, and one misty droplet sprang free. Leia inhaled sharply, patted Poe's shoulder, and rose to her feet. She paused by her son and ran a hand over his hair, hugging him briefly before leaving the room.

Instantly Ben crumpled.

"I'm sorry!" he sobbed, clutching his stomach as grief burst from his eyes and nose. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

BB-8 whistled a warning as Poe tumbled from the bunk, dragging himself to the young teen's side. "Whoah, hey!" Poe shushed, reaching for Ben's shoulder. "Wha'is it?"

Ben lurched away, choking uncontrollably. "I – I'm sorry!" he squeaked. "I'm sorry!"

"Ben – Ben, talk to me." Okay, not a good idea to be comforting a freaked out kid when the walls were spinning. Hoping to anchor himself and calm Ben at the same time, Poe latched onto the young Jedi's shoulder. "Ben, stoppit now!"

Gasping, Ben shuddered at the order and obeyed. His eyes were wide and frantic. The masked, cold slate of dark eyes was gone.

"Ben," Poe repeated, catching his breath. "Talk't me. What happened?"

"I'm sorry!" Ben's face screwed up and fresh tears poured down his cheeks. Poe closed his eyes and gulped a shaky breath.

"Okay." Rapidly Poe nodded. "I forgive you. Now tell me wha's goin' on."

"I… I…."

The kid was hyperventilating. Poe slid his legs underneath him and leaned back to snag the bunk blanket, pressing it over Ben's face. "Blow. Js'blow. They'll cleanit."

Babbling, Ben did as he was told. "I – I threw you into the ship – I didn't mean to – you jumped – and I let go – and I – I didn't mean to, Poe! I was angry and you jumped, and I tried to hold it back but you fell and you didn't get up and they took you away and they said you were having a seizure and Luke couldn't fix it and – I was scared!" He shouted into the blanket, whimpering again and again, "I was so scared!"

"Easy. Easy buddy," Poe shushed, finally guessing the story. He remembered the Y-wing's glass pane, and hurtling through the air. Ben's notorious spats explained the rest. "M'fine," Poe said, pulling the trembling teen into a hug. "M'fine, see? N'thn bacta won't fix."

"I'm sorry!" Ben exclaimed between chattering teeth. "I won't do it again! I won't ever use the Force around you!"

"I know." The headache had returned, but Ben needed comfort more than Poe needed to rest. "You won't hurt me, kid."

Ben wailed softly, looking for all the world like he was seven again, trying to fit a lost tooth back in his gums. Poe leaned back gingerly and BB-8 rolled behind him, offering support.

"Thanks," Poe whispered to the droid. He tightened his grip on Ben, rubbing his back until the sobs turned into hiccups and the shaking quieted into trembles. Ben wouldn't touch him – fearful of doing greater harm, or afraid of Poe's reaction, the pilot couldn't tell. He only knew that Ben was quiet for weeks after, and the base officers relayed to one another how nice it was to have peace for a change.

True to his word, the young Jedi vastly reined in his temper afterwards.

Ben Solo kept his promise.

Kylo Ren no longer cared.

Quite a few readers wanted a scenario where Ben actually injured Poe. This turned into a more crucial chapter than I anticipated.

Thank you to SilverclawRose, Nadreth, CrazedFangirl13, CatWingsAthena, Begoogled, time2read, Igeekthetudors, Ista, Agent ERA, Lazerkat, Space Opera Singer, ouattwaOncerwlSW, and guests Ann, Guest, and Corrine for reviewing!