Chapter 13-
"I need your help."
Rose looked up from the X-wing she was working on to find Rey standing there with a desperate, serious expression on her face. She wiped her hands on her pants and stepped away from the ship.
"Ok," Rose replied. "What do you need me to do?"
Rey breathed a sigh of relief as if she'd been afraid Rose might refuse. Luckily, their newfound friendship had reached a point where no convincing was required. "I need you to help me fly the Falcon on a… secret mission," Rey explained cryptically.
Rose raised her eyebrows in intrigued curiosity. "Oh? Secret mission, huh? I like the sound of that! It's been a little boring around this place lately. Just let me get some supplies together and run a quick check on the Falcon," she said as she knelt to close her tool box.
"I already did that," Rey stated. "We need to go. Now," she added with a sense of urgency.
Rose studied her friend for a moment starting to feel the contagious urgency herself. "Ok then," she nodded. "Let's go."
Rey smiled gratefully and the two took off toward the Millennium Falcon waiting at the other end of the Resistance hangar. When they reached the ship, R2-D2 was waiting at the top of the boarding ramp.
"Are we all ready to go, Artoo?" Rey asked the astromech droid as they came on board and made their way to the cockpit. Artoo released a stream of beeps in response as he rolled after them into the powered-up room.
Rose sat in the co-pilot's seat and strapped herself in, flipping the necessary switches to aid with take off. "Why isn't Chewbacca coming?," she asked. He was a permanent fixture on the old Corellian freighter. She'd heard all the stories about how he was Han Solo's longtime companion, never leaving his old friend's side. And he still seemed connected to their old ship.
Rey was busily working the controls on her side, but paused briefly to say, "I don't know if Chewie would be too thrilled with this mission." Then she resumed flight preparations.
What was she getting herself into? Rose wondered. She wasn't sure whether to feel afraid or totally intrigued. For now she decided to just go with it and trust that Rey knew what she was doing. She was a Jedi after all. In another moment, the Falcon lifted up and Rey skillfully piloted it out of the hangar.
Almost instantly a voice crackled over the comm unit. "Falcon, this is headquarters. You do not have clearance for departure." It was Poe Dameron's voice. Rose watched Rey's face and could tell she was debating whether to reply. That made Rose a little nervous.
"Question," Rose ventured. "Is this mission officially sanctioned?" Why she bothered to ask, she didn't know because she already knew the answer. Rey simply looked at her with pleading eyes. "Oh, great."
Rey pushed the comm button. "It's me, Poe."
Poe responded immediately. "Rey?! What are you doing? Where are you going? It's not been verified that the orbit is clear for take off. You need to come back now!"
"There is something I have to do. Tell Leia—," she paused, "tell her that it's time," Rey finished mysteriously before switching off the comm. She turned to Rose. "As soon as we clear orbit, punch in those coordinates and kick us into hyperspace. We don't have any time to waste." Her last sentence was spoken softly, and Rose could sense the worry in her friend's voice.
"Got it."
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Soon enough they entered hyperspace headed toward this so-called mission Rey was on. They did not speak except to comment on the ship's progress. Rey seemed entirely lost in her thoughts. Rose even caught her sitting with her eyes closed and assumed it was some Jedi meditation thing. She knew Rey had been studying some old Jedi books as part of her training. Regardless, this was no joyride. It was something very dire and was somehow connected to General Organa, too.
Finally, they exited hyperspace. Rey was wide-eyed and on high alert as the blue lines ended and deposited them right in front of a First Order command ship.
Rose gasped. "Oh, my gosh! Where are we?! Did you know this is where we would end up?!" Her faith in her friend was suddenly wavering.
Rey tensed up, keeping her focus out of the viewport at the giant ship off in the distance. "We should be small enough to avoid much notice. Hopefully," she added weakly. "Look for an escape pod. I'll keep us away from that ship!"
Rose monitored the radar as Rey tried to fly casually, avoiding notice of the First Order ship. But then she jerked the Falcon quickly to the left, and Rose looked up to see several tie fighters headed straight for them.
"Anything yet?" Rey asked worriedly, skillfully piloting them away from a pair of ties that had broken off and sped up. Rose forced herself to look back down at the monitors and there it was— at the edge of the screen, a tiny blip that indicated what Rey was looking for.
"There!" Rose exclaimed. "Over to the right. It looks like those fighters are as interested in that pod as you are."
Fear flashed in Rey's eyes as she realized the same fact. "Go man the guns," she told Rose. "We have to get rid of those ships."
Rose nodded once and took off toward the quad laser turret down below. As quickly as she could, she buckled in and took hold of the firing controls. It took a moment to get her bearings since the device was very touchy, but soon she was ready to blast some tie fighters.
"All ready!" She yelled into her headset, and immediately the Falcon dove and juked as it deftly avoided the oncoming fighters. Rose let off a few shots prematurely, missing her target. Thankfully, she had recently upgraded the Falcon's shields herself, so she wasn't too worried when they took a hit.
At least not yet.
She needed to slow her mind down and focus if she wanted to be of any use. The meditation thing seemed to help Rey, so Rose took a deep breath, reached up to touch the necklace lying at her throat, then looked back to her targeting computer to find a tie fighter sitting right in the sweet spot. She pushed the trigger button once...twice...three times and let out an exuberant, "YES!," when an explosion filled her viewport.
"Good job!" Rey's voice sounded in her headset. "Now do that again!" Using a few more expert flying moves, Rey easily lined up easy shots for Rose to take out two more fighters. Only one remained.
Suddenly Rey cried out, "Nooooo!", and Rose saw the last tie fighter land a shot on the escape pod. She felt Rey's desperation and knew she had to do something. Whoever was in that pod had to be important enough for Rey to risk her life. With determined resolve, Rose stared at her targeting screen, willing that last fighter to drift into range.
And then it did.
Rose wasted no time. She relentlessly fired the lasers until the bright light of the exploding ship was nearly gone. She slumped back in her seat and smiled in satisfaction. "Let's go get your pod." When she returned to the cockpit, Rey was already maneuvering the Falcon close enough to snag the other small craft.
"Take the controls and hold it steady," Rey said. "I'm going to get it loaded on board."
Rose steadied the Falcon and watched the monitors. So far no more fighters were headed their way, but she had an uneasy feeling that bit of luck might not last. The ship jolted as Rey closed the loading doors. Rose tried to contain her curiosity about who exactly was in that escape pod. Who could warrant such a risky rescue? A Resistance fighter escaped from the First Order, she assumed. It was obviously someone Rey held in high regard if she was willing to go through all of this.
"Rose!" Rey yelled from the docking hatch area. "I need your help down here, quick!"
"On my way!" She ran out of the cockpit and around to the other side of the ship to find Rey bent over pulling someone out of the pod. From this position she could not see who it was, but then she took a few steps further in and stopped dead in her tracks.
"That's—," she sputtered. "That's Kylo Ren!," she said in disbelief. "Supreme Leader of the First Order Kylo Ren!"
"Yeah," Rey said trying to pull him completely free of the pod. "I know," she grunted. "A little help, please."
Rose reluctantly moved to help by grabbing hold of his legs that were still stuck inside. "This is who we're rescuing?" She still couldn't believe it.
"Keep pulling," Rey replied.
The two continued tugging with all their might but made little progress.
"Wow. He's a big boy," Rose observed, pushing her hair out of her eyes. The fact that he was unconscious and nothing but total dead weight wasn't helping matters.
"We just need to get him to a bed in the crew quarters," Rey explained, continuing to pull hard underneath his arms. It took a lot of effort, both rescuers working up a sweat, but they finally got him into one of the bunks. Rose stepped back and had to take a few deep breaths.
"I assume you have a good explanation for this, but it can wait. He doesn't look too good." As she took a long glance at the figure in black lying unconscious, she noticed several nasty looking wounds. His lip was bleeding as was a gash on his temple, and his cheek was already starting to bruise. Then there were multiple blaster burns on his arm, leg, chest. He was not in good shape. Not at all.
She turned to Rey who was apparently noticing the same things because she looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. Just then a series of loud beeps came from Artoo up in the cockpit, snapping Rey back to the reality of their situation.
"More tie fighters are coming," she explained, taking off toward the cockpit. As soon as they arrived, they could see a line of tie fighters streaming out of the belly of the larger command ship. They were tiny and still some distance away, but would soon be within range.
"Looks like they want their escape pod back," Rose commented. "We have to get out of here!"
Rey agreed. She quickly punched in some new coordinates to the navigational computer and launched them into hyperdrive. Bright blue streaks of light filled their view and the First Order was left behind. She stood and started to leave. However, she stopped and turned back to catch Rose's gaze. "Thank you," she said softly.
Rose smiled and nodded her 'you're welcome.' Then Rey left to check on her "secret mission."
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"What did they do to you?" Rey whispered as she looked down at the sleeping Ben Solo— and that was how she thought of him. Not as Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order— master of the dark side. No. He was Ben to her.
She pulled out the Falcon's med-kit, woefully under-supplied with not nearly enough bacta patches for all of his wounds. Where to start? She wondered. Quickly evaluating his injuries, she decided to start with the blaster burn on his chest. It appeared to be just to the right of his heart. Another two inches and he might not be alive. She was amazed he'd been able to get himself on board the escape pod and get it launched in the first place.
She was equally amazed she had found him at all. The memory of their last Force bond moment was etched in her mind. She had been practicing with Finn in the training room, when suddenly there he was looking at her, blood dripping from the wounds on his face.
"Rey," he muttered weakly, barely able to get the word out.
"Ben!" She exclaimed, dropping her practice staff onto the floor.
He looked at her, wobbly on his legs, and simply said, "Escape pod." And then he was gone.
She left Finn standing befuddled as she took off running down the corridors of the base.
"No!" Rey cried, trying to will the Force to bring him back into view, but it didn't work. "Ben," she said with tears filling her eyes. She wiped them away and took another path. Closing her eyes she reached out through the Force, not to see him, but just to feel him— get a sense of where he was. She calmed her mind and steadied her breathing...inhale...exhale … inhale… exhale…
Her eyes popped open and she smiled with resolve. Grabbing her comm link, she contacted R2-D2. "Artoo, ready the Falcon for take off." And then she was off to find Rose.
Now they had found him in time, but she had to address those wounds quickly. She pulled carefully at his cape until it came free and tossed it aside. Next were his gloves. As the right one slipped off, she was instantly transported back to that touch in the hut on Ahch-To, her reaching out to him not knowing what to expect, and him reaching back— their fingers barely making contact. Nothing had been the same since that moment.
She needed to focus. Grabbing at a blast hole in his shirt, she ripped it apart to reveal more of the injury. He moaned in pain and she flinched in response. "I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear. Then she went to work treating and bandaging all of his wounds, blaster burns first. She used the few bacta patches on those, saving the plain bandages and antiseptic cream for the rest. As she tended to him, she noticed all of his scars, knowing full well the origin of many of them. A saber burn on his left shoulder. A crossbow blast on his left side. The long, narrow scar that started above his brow and traveled down the right side of his chest. And now he would have more.
Several minutes later, she was finishing the clean up of the gash on his head when his eyes opened. When she pressed down on the damp gauze to dab away the dried blood, he flinched and she finally noticed he was awake and looking around.
"Where am I?" he asked in that low, familiar voice that lived in her dreams.
"You're safe," she answered, leaning back as he cautiously pushed himself up to a seated position on the bunk. He grimaced and settled himself as comfortably as he could. Continuing to study his surroundings, a light of recognition lit his eyes.
"Are we on the Falcon?," he said with a mix of contempt and something else Rey couldn't quite put her finger on. Was it regret? Sadness? Fear?
"Yes."
He remained silent for a long while and Rey sat still on the edge of his bunk waiting for him to say more. Finally he did.
"Why? Why did you come for me?"
Their eyes locked and she could see it again— that sad, lonely soul longing for acceptance.
"You know why," she said simply.
Ben's breath hitched almost imperceptibly and he didn't look away.
"What happened?" Rey asked. "How?"
A look of pure hatred contorted his face. "Hux," he spat out. "That traitor's been waiting for a chance to betray me for years."
"And I'm guessing he got that chance," Rey added. Ben snarled and looked away, but only momentarily.
"Are you taking me back to the Resistance?"
"No," she answered. "I don't trust you with them."
He looked at her in surprise. "Smart choice."
She huffed at his arrogance. "I also don't trust them not to kill you on sight," she added with a haughty lift of her eyebrows.
Ben snorted. "They might try," he boasted.
"And they might succeed. Clearly, the First Order almost did. You're lucky I found you in time."
Soundly chastised, he sobered instantly and shifted in the bed, grabbing his arm and gritting his teeth in pain. "So where are you taking me then?"
How much should she tell him? It was probably best not to reveal all just yet. "Somewhere safe and that's all you need to know for now." She stood up to go. "In the meantime, you need to rest. Those bacta patches should work fairly quickly, but you should stay in bed until we get there."
He almost resisted her attempts to order him around, but he was feeling rather light-headed. Resting would probably be a good thing, so he nodded in agreement and settled more comfortably onto the bunk.
"I'll be back to check on you in a bit," she explained, "but if you need anything before then, just call on the comm pad. It's right over-"
"I know where it is," he interrupted with a scowl. Too late she realized her blunder. Of course he knew where everything was on board this ship. He'd grown up on the Falcon. Chewbacca was probably the only other person alive who knew it better than he did.
"Well, then," she recovered sheepishly, "try to get some rest."
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Kylo watched her exit the quarters, and then leaned back into the pillow trying to get comfortable. After several attempts, he finally managed to position himself in a way that caused the least amount of pain. Closing his eyes, he started drifting off to sleep.
"Rey, what in the world are you doing?!"
The unfamiliar voice came blaring through the comm pad, jolting him out of his near-sleep. Wincing in pain again, he realized whomever it was talking did not notice their end of the connection was open.
"He is the enemy!" the voice continued. "Why are you helping him?"
Kylo couldn't help but listen, considering the link was open. However, he found he definitely wanted to hear the rest of this conversation.
"I- I don't know, really." It was Rey's voice. "I mean, he is Leia's son, you know."
"And also the Leader of the First Order!" the other speaker exclaimed. "He's dangerous! You yourself told me how he tried to kill you and Finn. And how he did kill his own father! Rey, I don't know if this is such a good idea."
Kylo admitted the girl was right about all of it. So why was Rey helping him?
"Rose, all I know is the Force is telling me to help him. It keeps putting us in each other's paths, so that must be for a reason."
He considered the truth of Rey's words. The Force did seem to keep bringing them together. At this point, it could not possibly be mistaken for mere coincidence. He was not sure of its endgame, but right now he was helpless to resist its plan. And did he even want to?
"But aren't you afraid of him? How could you possibly trust him?" Rose continued, trying her best to talk sense into her friend. "What are you going to do with him? Take him back as a prisoner?"
He snorted at the absurdity of her suggesting that he could be kept captive by anyone.
"He's not a prisoner,' Rey answered. "And I'm not taking him back to the Resistance. For now I'm just going to take him somewhere to heal. After that…" she paused. "Well, I don't know exactly what I'll do then. I'll figure it out later."
Somewhere to heal? Where would that be?
"And I'm not afraid of him." He heard the softness in her voice. "I can't explain it, but I know he won't hurt me."
Grudgingly, he admitted to himself that she was right. Despite how upset he had been when she refused to join him in Snoke's throne room, she was now the last person he would ever want to harm. He did not want to examine the reason for that and its implications too closely right now.
A few moments of silence passed, and he assumed their conversation had ended. However, he was wrong.
Rose gasped softly as if understanding of some kind just dawned on her. "You care about him, don't you?" she asked Rey.
Instantly, his ears perked up as he eagerly awaited the answer. Why was his heart beating faster all of a sudden? Unfortunately, no response from Rey- only silence. In a few seconds, Rose spoke again.
"You don't have to answer. I get it," she said, "kind of." She chuckled. "We don't always get to choose who we care about. Sometimes, it just happens. I just hope you know what you're doing."
Kylo waited for several more minutes, but their discussion was truly finally over. He sighed. Settling back down as carefully as he could, exhausted in body and mind, he finally drifted off to sleep.
