Rey stands across from Ben, light her feet and ready to fly. Her irritation from watching his waltz with Virya has melted into anticipation, a tingling that seeps down to her fingertips. It's an effort to keep the smile off her face.

Ben watches, patient and still. His expression is neutral but his eyes could light up a room. Rey steps left. Ben shifts, attuned to her like a compass keeping north.

From the sidelines, Finn watches along with Poe and Rose. Rey doesn't look to see how closely they're paying attention. Demonstration or not, she can't afford to take her eyes off Ben for a moment.

"When ones of us makes a first move," Ben says to their audience, "it won't be a mindless charge. It will be deliberate. Efficient. Assessing."

To illustrate Ben's point, Rey darts in with a testing strike. Ben steps back, chin turning to avoid her aluminium saber. But his eyes never leave her, dipping into their corners to track her every move. Rey breaks her two-handed grip to jab a passing elbow at Ben's ribs. It's only a graze, meant to rattle rather than harm. She glimpses the corner of a smile as Ben twists away, switching his sword hand overhead, and then bringing his saber swinging down for her. Rey somersaults, aluminum scraping the sole of her shoe as she rolls out of the way.

They come up on opposite sides, still again.

"Um. What just happened?" Rose asks.

"Not sure," Poe answers. "I blinked."

Finn grumbles something Rey doesn't catch, because Ben is opening his mouth to offer commentary to their spectators, and Rey seizes her chance.

She lunges. Sabers clang. Once, twice, again. Rey abandons planned thought to instinct and intuition, their rapid pace not allowing for anything more detailed. She knows where Ben will be before he gets there. And Ben too, seems to anticipate Rey's movements before she's even begun to make them. The fight thrills in her, quickly making her breathless. A dance, she thinks, had been the perfect word.

Rey swings at Ben's left side. Ben blocks her in a vertical bar. But Rey takes it in stride, already knowing he'd be there, shoving off his weapon to spin around for his other side. Ben's saber swings like a pendulum, a flying parry that nearly knocks Rey from her feet. She staggers, raising her blade in a protective block, knowing Ben will press his advantage before she regains her balance.

His blow lands. Rey's arm sings as if hollowed out by lightening. She won't last a second hit. And they both know it.

Ben swings again. Rey drops her weapon and propels herself forward, ducking under Ben's saber and inside his reach. She shoots to a stand, their chests grazing, breath mingling, and Ben blinking at her sudden nearness, giving Rey the perfect opportunity to jam a shoulder under his sternum and shove. It's a risky move for the smaller opponent, relying solely on surprise. But it works.

Ben stumbles backward as she'd hoped, but he crooks his elbow as she turns, caging her to him. Rey yelps as the bar of Ben's forearm knocks against her collarbone, panic jolting as her spine bumps along Ben's torso. Getting trapped in Ben's hold would be like being pinned under a landslide. If he got a solid grip on her, there would be no way out.

Before he can do so, Rey bends her arms under Ben's forearm and grips it like a pull-up bar. She kicks her feet up, throwing her entire weight onto him. Ben grunts, falling to one knee. Rey slides out from under his loosened grip and lunges for her saber, standing and spinning to strike before he can -

Rey freezes, her blade pressed to the pulse leaping in Ben's neck. Just the same as Ben's is pressed to hers, a tang of cool metal along the fire in her throat. Rey pants, near enough to feel the combined heat rolling from their skin. Ben is gazing down at her, his eyes bright and alive.

"You never follow the damn rules," he says, a little breathless.

"Rules?" Rey grins. "Never heard of them." And then she remembers the last time they did this. Remembers the glide of Ben's callouses along her arm and around the back of her neck. The closeness and the heat of him. If he did it again, if he pulled her to him now, she wouldn't just stand still and wonder what would happen next. She would -

"So what was that, a draw?"

Poe's question yanks Rey out of her dizzy daydream, reminding her they have an audience. She steps back from Ben to blink at their spectators. Finn is stony, arms crossed over his chest. Rose has found something fascinating on the floor. Only Poe seems unfazed, waiting expectantly to hear who would be declared the winner. And beyond her friends, on the sidelines, Virya Vorian is sitting perfectly still, watching with an expression that Rey finds she cannot hold. An expression like seeing the one thing you've always wanted, and realizing it fits perfectly on someone else.

#

"I want to go again," Finn declares, interrupting the silence after Ben and Rey's duel.

"Sure," Rey nods, wiping a shimmer of sweat from her temple. "Let me get some water and-"

"With him."

Rey halts, looking between the Finn and Ben.

"Uh," Poe interjects, stepping in between the two. "Finn buddy, you think that's a good idea?"

"Why not? It's like she said," Finn jerks his head at Virya. "You're expected to dance with anyone. Sooner or later I'll have to go up against you."

Hopefully later rather sooner, Rey thinks. "Finn, I'm happy to-"

"Fine." Ben says.

"What? Ben-"

"It could be good for him. To go up against someone who isn't a friend. It might motivate him to learn."

"Oh, it'll motivate me alright." Finn strides past Rey and Poe, training saber gripped tight.

"You're not gonna stop them?" Poe mutters once Finn is out of ear shot. "Either of them loses their cool and we've got a dead guy to deal with."

"Ben knows what he's doing," Rey says, sounding uncertain even to herself.

"He's not the one I'm worried about."

Finn sinks into a fighting stance, his shoulders a rigid line brushing his earlobes.

"Whenever you're ready," Ben says, as casual as if he were waiting in line for a shuttle ticket.

Finn charges, raising his saber in an two-handed overhand strike.

Rey cringes at Finn's choice. Too obvious. Too early. The attack leaves every angle of Finn's body as open as a book. At best Ben will just sidestep, removing himself from Finn's path. At worst, he will take Finn up on his unwitting offer to break any number of a dozen bones.

Ben does neither.

There is a great clang of metal that lances Rey's ear like a needle. Ben has simply blocked Finn's blow. But Finn doesn't forfeit. Instead he strains, breath choppy as he pushes against Ben's weapon, trying to win a contest of strength. Ben holds, unyielding. A tendon flexes in his jaw, but otherwise he might have been a mountain standing resolute as a train tried to push its way through rock.

After a long, humiliating moment, Ben heaves, sending Finn backward. Finn staggers, barely managing to keep a hold of his saber.

"Now you've learned that brute force is ineffective," Ben says. "Since we've got that over with, try-"

Finn roars, running headlong. Rather than parrying or dodging, Ben steps in and meets Finn with a savage blow of his own. Their sabers clash once, twice, three times. Each exchange sends Finn even more off balance.

"I told you this was a bad ideeaa," Poe sing-songs, trying and failing to hide his concern in the melody.

Rey watches, ready to leap in and shield Finn if she needs to.

Finn tries for a brutal strike at Ben's neck. Ben catches it with his saber, irritation flashing clear across his face as Finn once again tries to push through his guard.

"You're not even trying to learn," Ben scowls. Finn ignores him, teeth gritting as he shoves. Ben throws a loose punch at Finn's jaw to demonstrate that his stubbornness is leaving him wide open.

It was the kind of punch a youngling could block. For Finn, raised as a storm trooper and now a leader of the Rebellion, he should have been able to block it in his sleep. That is, if he hadn't been so single-mindedly focused on breaking Ben's guard. The punch takes him square in the jaw. Finn reels, saber clattering. His hand flies to his mouth.

"That was to snap you out of it," Ben says. "You know better than -"

Finn whirls, rage in his eyes, and in a sudden, jerky sweep, he hurls the Force at Ben.

#

Ben braces for a fraction of a second, leaning forward like he'd done when Rey had left him in a First Order hangar to leap for a waiting ship. On instinct, he reaches for the Force. But Ben Solo has no tie to its power anymore. So when Finn throws it at him, Ben is hurled across the room. His body slams into a stack of empty crates that tumble onto him in a heap.

"Ben!" Rey is across the room before she remembers moving, heaving busted crates and looking for a glimpse of the man pinned beneath. One of the boxes shifts. Ben pushes it off with a groan. Rey clamors to help. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Ben says. But his face is a storm as he gets to his feet. Rey takes his arm in both her hands, though he doesn't seem to need help. There is a gash across his temple that weeps blood. The sight of it sets something inside her ablaze.

"What the hell, Finn?" Rey demands, whirling. "What were you thinking!"

"What was I thinking?" Finn is striding toward them, Poe at his elbow. Finn jabs a finger at Ben. "This asshole punched me in the damn face. You don't punch people in the face during a training spar."

"And you don't use the Force like that against your allies. Ever. You shouldn't even be using it at all. You haven't been trained."

"Well then maybe you should be teaching me how to use it instead of swinging around a fake saber."

"Are you joking? Finn, if you think we're doing Force training after this, you are out of your damn-"

"Have you given it any thought?" Ben interrupts, wiping blood from his brow as if it were only sweat.

"What?" Rey asks. But Ben isn't speaking to her.

"The offer I made you in Leia's chambers. Have you given it any more thought?"

Finn hardens. "No."

"No is your answer? Or no, you haven't thought about it?"

"I don't need to think about it. The answer is no."

"You just said yourself. You need a teacher. Someone who understands what you're going through."

"You don't understand a thing about me!" Finn snarls. "I bet you forgot I was a Storm Trooper, didn't you? Raised by your twisted cult, spending my entire brainwashed life doing dirty work for the First Order. I got my life back from you once. I sure as hell am not giving you power over me ever again."

"Finn," Poe's hand lands on Finn's shoulder. "We get it. No one's saying-"

"No, you don't get it!" Finn wrenches from Poe's touch and starts for Ben. Rey moves to step between them, but Ben touches a hand to her hip, staying her. Finn catches the small gesture. His eyes blaze. "You may have everyone else fooled, but not me. I know what you are. And I'll tell you right now, I'm not letting you hurt them. Alright? I'll kill you first."

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," Ben says. "I'm trying to help."

Finn scoffs. For a moment, Rey thinks he will strike Ben and start the fight all over again. But instead he sneers, wheeling away in disgust and heading for the door. Poe follows, shooting a questioning look over his shoulder at Rey. His eyes ask, 'What the hell was that about?'

She shakes her head, as lost as he is.

"Finn," Poe breaks into a light jog. "Hey. Don't-"

His sentence is cut off as the door slams shut behind them. Rey stares after them a moment, wondering if she should follow. She's never seen Finn so angry.

"Lord Ren, that wound… are you alright?"

Rey turns to see Virya approaching, Rose following with her blaster. Virya reaches for Ben's temple, still dripping blood. Ben beats her to it, touching his fingers to the wound. They come back slick and red.

"It's fine," he says. "Head wounds always look worse than they are."

"Virya's right," Rey lays a hand on Ben's shoulder. "We should get that looked at by the nurse. She likes you now, so we don't have to use the duct tape."

Ben gives a suppressed shudder, either at the mention of the duct tape or the nurse.

Freckles all over… Rey blinks, then shakes the memory and ensuing thoughts from her head. "Rose, you can you take Virya back to her room for me?"

"Yeah," Rose says. "Of course."

Virya looks from Ben to Rey, her expression hardening from concern to contempt. Rey feels an ice chip slide down her spine.

"Thanks for the dancing lessons," Rey says by way of dismissal. "Same time tomorrow."

"At least no one bled during my teachings," Virya sniffs. "If Lord Ren scars, by the way, you'll be the one to blame. But I suppose that wouldn't be a first for you now would it?"

"Good bye, Virya," Rey says sharply.

Rose clears her throat, nodding to the door.

Virya scoffs, but thankfully turns on her heel to leave. Rey mouths a thank you to Rose who nods as she holds the door open for Virya, sliding it closed behind them.

#

Once they are alone, Ben sits heavily on a crate that's still intact. Rey finds a wad of clean napkins from their lunch bags and holds a handful to his wound, applying gentle pressure to staunch the blood. "Use these for now. We can go to the medical bay once the bleeding slows up a bit. Otherwise you'll be painting the hallway."

"Thanks," Ben puts his hand over hers to anchor the napkins. Rey slides her fingers out from under his to let him hold it there for himself.

"Do you feel dizzy? Nauseous?"

"I'm not concussed, Rey. It's just an ugly cut."

"Okay. If you're sure. I'd use the Force to heal you. But then you might be carrying me back to the medical ward."

Rey smiles but Ben doesn't. A cloud passes over his face.

"Hey," Rey nudges his knee with her own. "That was a joke."

"Not a very funny one."

"No," Rey admits, sobering. "I guess not."

Ben pulls the napkins back, red and sopping. Rey hands him a clean handful.

"You need to talk to him," Ben says.

Rey sighs. "I know. Today shouldn't have happened. It was stupid of me to let him have a go at you. I'll tell him to apolo-"

"I don't care about apologies, Rey. That's not what this is about."

"Okay," Rey says. "Then what is it about?"

Ben hesitates.

"Is it about your mysterious offer to him?" Rey prods. "Are you going to tell me what that was or...?"

Ben sighs. "When you found us in Leia's chambers, I was offering to teach him. To train him in the ways of the Force. He didn't take it very well."

Rey laughs in disbelief. "You thought he would? No offense," she adds quickly when Ben glances at her. "But, I mean, he has me and Leia already. And… well, you know he hasn't exactly come around on you yet."

"That much is obvious," Ben says. "And he's right. That's why I'm the best teacher for him."

"How do you mean?" Rey asks, still not following.

"Leia is strong in the Force. But she's… often an absent teacher," Ben says. "And even when she does find time to mentor, she only ever sees the best in people. Even when I was at my darkest, she insisted there was still light in me."

"There was still light in you."

Ben tenses but continues. "Leia is an idealist. It makes her a good politician. A good leader. But she isn't the right teacher for him. Just like she wasn't for me."

"Alright," Rey says. "But what about me? I know I'm not a Master. But I can still teach Finn a thing or two about the-"

"Being around you makes it worse."

"What do you mean? Makes what worse?"

"The thought of losing you, or even just letting you down, it feeds all his insecurities and resentment. You haven't noticed, but I have. I know the signs better than anyone."

"Ben," Rey says sharply, a spike of anxiety nailing her in place. "What signs? What are you saying?"

Ben looks up at her, blood seeping through the napkins and a graveness in his eyes. "I'm going to say something now that you won't want to hear. Alright?"

Rey just stares at him.

"Your friend needs help. And he needs it soon. If he continues the path he's on, it will lead him to the dark side."

A/N: I promise this fic is NOT going to make Finn a main character. This fits. I promise. I hope.