Disclaimer: Nothing's changed. I still do not own Star Wars or any of the recognisable characters of the franchise. This story is purely for entertainment.

Chapter 27

Ben was sitting in the canteen with Quan. They usually sat together. Ben liked it this way as the medic was usually quiet and he just felt good in his company. But within the last several weeks, more and more often Dameron and sometimes C'ai would join them. People in general seemed to be less afraid of him though still respectfully keeping their distance.

Today, however, when he needed peace and quiet, he didn't seem to be able to find it. He couldn't stay in his room as this nudging, anxious feeling didn't want to leave him. Before they jumped into hyperspace, he checked up on Rey but she was sleeping. Everything seemed fine, yet he was restless. That's how he ended up in the canteen. It was quiet when he got there. He joined Quan who as usual before going to bed, was enjoying a cup of Bark Tea.

'Hope you don't mind?' – He asked just to be polite as the medic always seemed glad to spend time with him.

Quan shook his head in response and took a sip from his mug. Ben checked the content of the jugs on the table. Bark tea and bantha milk. He took one of the empty mugs. While pouring himself some milk, Ben looked at Quan more closely. He could see something was bothering him. – 'Are you ok?'

'Med droids...' – Quan shook his head again and sighed.

Ben knew that he wouldn't elaborate any further. Quan just was this way and he respected it. But he couldn't help but smile when he watched the medic taking another sip of his hot drink. Everyone on the ship knew about his personal distrust when it came to droids working with him in the medical centre. According to Quan, the droids simply couldn't understand that medicine wasn't just about technology. These last few days Quan was spending a lot of time alone in the lab.

'What are you doing here?' – Quan tilted his head.

'I'm restless. Something is going to happen…' – He knew Quan could understand him more than anyone else on this ship. – 'For better or worse…I don't know but…something is shifting.'

Quan watched Ben for a moment before answering. – 'Nothing happens by accident. Changes and shifts are part of life, part of The Force. They may be pleasant and calm and predictable and welcomed or they may be erratic, challenging, sometimes very painful…but without it the world would be stagnant, we wouldn't be able to grow. Whether we consider them good or bad is subjective and therefore irrelevant. The only thing that matters is how we respond.'

Ben furrowed his brows trying to concentrate. - 'So…you are saying that I shouldn't be afraid of what is coming but rather be ready to react in the right way when it comes? - He tried to make some sense out of it.

'Exactly.' – Quan smiled at him and opened his mouth to add something else but this is when a joyous shout reached Ben from behind.

'Solo, buddy, here you are!'

Ben turned his head to see Dameron walking towards their table with a bottle of Corellian Whiskey.

'You must be kidding me!' – Dameron laughed when he sat down and saw what Ben was drinking. - 'This isn't a drink for a real man.' – He took the last two empty mugs and started pouring whiskey in. – 'This IS.' – He pushed one of the mugs towards Ben and winked at Quan.

As they were to spend some time in hyperspace, Dameron was using this opportunity to try to finally get him drunk. Ben shook his head. – 'When are you going to accept that I am a better drinker then you'll ever be?' – He smirked. He could see Quan was smiling, listening to their banter.

'Probably…never. At some point… I will find a drink that gets you.' – Dameron pointed his finger at him.

'I wouldn't count on it…buddy' – Ben tried to keep straight face but failed seeing both Quan and Dameron's expressions at his use of the word 'buddy'. He raised his mug with whiskey towards Dameron challenging him. – 'So, let's see again what you can do.'

Dameron took a gulp of a fiery drink without a blink. – 'Just remember…even if I win today…it still doesn't make us friends.'

...

Poe was running towards the bridge. He was quite brutally woken up by one of the bridge officers claiming that Ben Solo took control over the ship!

He was cold, his head was spinning, his heart was pounding. The fear that was somewhere there, deep inside him, hidden for many months surfaced again. He knew he shouldn't trust Solo! He was chaotically putting on the jacket as he run. It wasn't easy as his clothes felt moist. Even his hair felt wet. Was he sweating so much? This was a real wakeup call! He needed to stop drinking so much!

The officer still briefing him in on recent events was running alongside him. - 'He just charged in and we were ordered to leave the bridge. I don't know how it happened but we did as he ordered. He is now locked inside. From what we can see, he is getting ready to jump out of Hyperspace. BB-8 is with him.'

'Wait…my droid!? HE TOOK MY DROID!?' – He paused for a moment but before he could digest this news he started running again. There was no time to lose.

'What's our current location?' – Poe asked as they were taking the last turn towards the bridge entrance. There were already several people there.

'Fortunately, we are nowhere near FO Forces for what we know but…' – The officer stopped as Poe was banging on the door leading to the bridge.

'Solo! Open the door!' – He took out his blaster pistol and started shouting orders over his shoulder. – 'Zeebe, raise the alarm! We need more people! Have the blasters ready!'

Poe touched his commlink. – 'Solo! Open the door now. It is an order!' – He barked.

To his utter surprise the door opened. He instinctively took a step back. And this was when they all felt a slight shake and Poe knew the ship slowed below the lightspeed. They dropped out of hyperspace.

He cautiously stepped into the bridge. Others followed him closely. They all instinctively pointed their blasters at the figure standing in the middle of the bridge. It was Ben Solo. Just standing there with his both hands raised.

'Where is BB-8?' – He asked looking around and to his surprise, for the first time, noticing Quan seating by the radio. The droid's round head appeared from behind Ben Solo. He looked at him guiltily. Poe was confused. - 'What is going on here? Quan what are YOU doing here? '

BB-8 rushed towards him and started beeping agitatedly. – 'Wait…wait…slow down!' – Poe kneeled down and patted him, cautiously watching Ben Solo still standing motionless with his arms high.

'You tried to wake me up? Using what?!' – No wonder his shirt felt so damp. – 'You slowed down the ship to get in touch with Alik? Rey is in danger?!' – He was repeating after droid to try to make sense out of it all. His head was pounding. He most definitely had too much to drink. He stood up. He was calmer now. At least he knew this was not some mutiny or Solo turning to the dark side again.

'Solo, can you explain it to me in a way that will make sense?' – He asked tiredly.

Ben slowly lowered his hands. – 'I had a dream. I dreamt of that place before. Long time ago. I saw…There was a huge tree, so big you could walk into it. And suddenly all of it was engulfed in fire. And Rey appeared there…and she was walking straight into the flames when I woke up.' – He lifted up his head stiffly. – 'I know it sounds mad but I just know that whatever she is doing right now, she is walking straight into danger. But I couldn't get in touch with her… I couldn't get in touch with Alik N'ado when we were in hyperspace. And I still can't get in touch with her… ' – He looked anxious and miserable now.

Poe looked at Quan trying to contact Canto Bight. – 'So why didn't you tell me? Do you have any idea what I just went through?'

'We tried.' – Solo looked guiltily at Poe's damp clothes. He cleared his throat. – 'BB-8 tried to help as well. When we failed, we decided to wake up Quan as well. I tried to do whatever I could without it looking like a mutiny.'

Poe could see that more and more people were coming into the bridge.

He secured his weapon and slipped it behind his belt. – 'There is nothing to look at. It was a false alarm. Go back to your rooms. We will have a meeting later on. I will update you on the current events. Zebee take back control over the ship and stay on the current course. And can someone help Quan? We need to talk to commander N'ado. It's urgent!'

He watched relief appearing briefly on Solo's face as people started reluctantly leaving the bridge. The hum of their hushed conversations was filling the place for a few minutes and then it was gone. He will have to explain everything to his crew in a rational manner to avoid the spread of any unhealthy gossiping.

All of a sudden, to his left, he heard Alik's anxious voice. – 'I need to speak to commander Dameron.'

'Put him on intercom!' – He called towards the radio operator.

He moved to the centre of the bridge where Ben Solo was silently standing next to BB-8.

'It's Poe here!'

'Poe! So good to hear you! We knew you would not be able to hear us in Hyperspace and yet we were trying! It's a real havoc here!'

'Alik! What's happening?' – He was embracing himself to hear the worst. But he never imagined he would hear that!

'You have to help us! Rey disappeared! She…She ran away!'