A/N: Welcome to Part 3 (chapter 1)! This'll be two chapters on its own.

This one is called New Enemies and Old Friends

"You know, you don't need to give me half every time."

Ben laughed softly and continued counting out the credits. She was honestly complaining about this? "Of course I do. You're my partner."

"I know, but—"

He glanced up under brows lifted in surprise and amusement. "You do just as much work as I do. That's how being partners works, Rey. Besides," he slid the pile of credits to her over their common area tabletop, "you deserve at least that for the stunt you pulled with the captain. I wonder how long it took before he realized he was no longer on his ship." He grinned at the memory.

"Long enough for us," Rey returned, also grinning, finally swiping her pile off the table.

"And long enough for Turuk. Another happy customer." He dropped his own credits into a cloth wallet. "What did you think of Boruga?"

She shrugged. "Sesid was prettier by far, and I'm still glad we took the medicines job."

"Of course you would like Sesid," Ben chuckled. "Water as far as the eye could see."

"Where to next?"

"I have a friend who runs a cantina on Coruscant, and it isn't too far. Figured we'd stop off there."

"I hope this isn't a friend like the last time we met one of your 'friends,' Ben." Rey glared at him out of the corner of her eye.

"In my defense, Sotor has always been stuck up. And I didn't call him a friend, exactly."

"No, you definitely did. 'My friend on Tatooine'—those were your exact words. And then he was shooting at us."

Ben shook his head as he hid a smile. "You're getting a lot better with a blaster."

"I have to be, running around with you, apparently!"

"Well, this isn't one of those kinds of friends. He's given me jobs in the past."

"I'm trusting you, Solo."

He looked over and saw the smirk on her face and the glint in her eyes before she tried to hide it again behind mock seriousness.

"Don't make me regret it."

"Oh, I probably will," he quipped back, and grinned.

They landed on a lower level, where he paid a few extra credits to make sure his ship was locked up. Coruscant's seedy underbelly was a hotbed of crime, and he had no interest in getting Shadowstar stolen.

For good measure, he grabbed the weapon he kept stashed away. It was useful for an intimidation tactic, but he would only use it if he needed it.

He also left AD-83 behind. The droid could hold his own, if necessary, and could bring the ship to them if they ended up in a bad spot and needed a quick escape route.

From the time they entered the atmosphere to when they landed, Rey had stared in amazement. Her eyes sparkled with the thrill of a new place, and this one had a lot to see, to be sure.

If he could, he would take her to every planet, just to see her shine with excitement.

They picked their way to a garish red-painted cantina with a neon yellow sign over the entrance: "Rising Sun." Ben let Rey precede him through the door and flicked a smile to the Devaronian bouncer, who glared at him.

"Hey, Zed," he greeted the bartender.

"Solo." Zed's response was curt. "Didn't think I'd see you here again."

"I was hoping you could set me up with some work." While he wasn't encouraged by the less-than-enthusiastic reception, he still held out hope his previous mess had blown over.

The man scoffed. "After the joke you pulled last time? I don't think so. I'm still dealing with some of that fallout."

Ben sensed Rey stiffen beside him and dropped his tone. "You know that wasn't all my fault. I was sold out."

"The Pykes don't see it that way. I was barely able to get back into their good graces myself, and I didn't even run the job."

He had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer, but he asked the question anyway. "How did you get back into their graces?"

Zed's eyes narrowed. "By promising I would call them if I ever saw you again."

"Ben, let's go," Rey murmured, placing a hand on his arm.

"You should listen to your friend. Out of respect for our history I won't call them this time. But I don't want to see you here again."

"Understood," Ben muttered, already backing towards the door.

Once they reemerged into the polluted Coruscant air, Ben let out a breath. "That didn't work."

"You and your friends." Rey rolled her eyes and started forward, but thankfully didn't rub it in. "Let's find another place to eat. Someplace you haven't been," she finished with a pointed look.

Ben ran a hand through his hair. He deserved that.

They stepped into another cantina not too far away with dim lights and loud music. At least it would cover the conversation they were most certainly going to have.

Sure enough, after ordering drinks and two bowls of something hot, Rey turned to him with that look. The one that meant she was looking for answers and wouldn't stop until she got them.

"So, Pykes, huh?"

"Yeah." Ben grimaced. "It was a bad idea at the time and it's still haunting me."

"What happened?"

He debated how much of the story to tell her. The abridged version wouldn't hurt. "Long story short, I needed some quick money. Heard the Pykes were running spice from Kessel to Coruscant and decided to take the chance." He took a swig and let the alcohol burn down his throat. "Unfortunately, when I showed up with the shipment, three New Republic starfighters were waiting for me. You can never prove this sort of thing, but I'm sure one of the syndicate sold me out."

"Why would they do that?" She stared at him wide-eyed over her own glass.

Ben shrugged. "It's always about the money with these guys. Though it may have been some sort of revenge on the Solo name, who knows. My dad dealt with these guys before, and things tend to crash and burn for him, so—" He took another drink.

"Were you arrested?"

He made a face. "Ah, no. That's most of the problem. When I saw those ships, I—uh—well, like anyone would, I panicked." Running a hand through his hair, he tugged at the roots, as though it would help get the words out. "It was one of the only times my name actually worked in my favor. I told them who I was and told them I was bringing the spice to them."

Rey's eyebrows headed towards her hairline. "You turned over your smuggling shipment to the government."

"Well, what else was I supposed to do?"

She snickered, shaking her head, before she sipped her drink and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I bet the Pykes loved you for that."

"By which you mean I'm lucky I'm not dead?"

"Exactly."

"I know. I got off easy. I only had to pay back the half they'd already paid me, plus extra, and they told me they'd never work with me again." And there may have been a little Force persuasion involved, but who could say?

—

Rey couldn't believe this guy. You'd think after the few months she'd spent traveling with Ben Solo she would get used to his harebrained ideas and escapes, but he still managed to surprise her.

"What did you need the money for in the first place?" She tried to keep her tone casual, though what she meant was, Are you, and now we, still in debt?

He shifted, looking uncomfortable, and mumbled something that was lost to the music.

"Sorry?"

"Another disaster of a job."

"Another?!"

"Look, I know what you're thinking, but this one really wasn't my fault!"

An amused smirk touched the corner of her mouth. "Do tell."

"It—" He sighed and shook his head. "I was running baradium for a weapons developer. I nearly made it to the rendezvous point when our shuttle was attacked by pirates. They ambushed us and the baradium exploded." He took a long drink and was silent so long she wondered if he would continue the story. "I was the only one who made it out of that crew," he said at last, in a low tone she struggled to hear over the driving beat. "Ejected out before the crash."

"Why do you owe the money, though?"

He gave her a one-shoulder shrug. "The client considered it as losing the shipment and held me responsible for the whole amount."

Rey gaped at him in shock. "That's not fair! Would he have rather you died?"

"Yeah, probably," Ben returned with a humorless laugh.

"So how much did you owe?"

He winced. "Five hundred thousand credits."

She might have gasped "What?" or she might have only managed to make an awful choking noise. She wasn't sure.

"It's a good thing the shipment wasn't larger, or I would be up for a lot more." He ran a finger over the top of his glass and stared at the floor. "I've paid back about half, but it's slow going." She was still recovering from the shock of the amount when he looked up with a smile. "Though with you as my partner, my return rate has doubled, so I'm sure we'll be able to get it taken care of in no time."

Her voice finally returned. "That's a lot of money, Ben."

"It is. But we can do it. Unless," uncertainty filtered into his expressive eyes, "you don't want to be partners anymore."

Placing a hand over his felt as natural as breathing. "I still want to be partners."

His gaze flicked to their hands and then back up. "Good. Great. I'm glad," he said quickly and took a drink.

They finished their meals in silence; then Ben stood and stretched. "I'll be right back."

She watched as he ambled over to the counter and exchanged words, and credits, with the bartender. When he returned, she looked up at him expectantly. "Good news?"

"He gave me the name and contact for a businessman looking to move some items of questionable legality." He gave her a crooked smirk. "Shall we?"

They stepped outside the cantina to find blasters pointed at them from all directions.

"I've been looking for you, Solo," a man in black armor said from the front of the crowd.

"Well, you found me," Ben hedged. She saw his hand inching towards his blaster out of the corner of her eye. "What do you want?"

The man's gaze shifted to Rey, though his blaster remained on Ben, and his eyebrows rose in interest. "I've heard a lot about you. But I didn't know you were in the habit of picking up snacks."

Ben's jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. "That 'snack' could kill you, so get to the point."

The man smirked unpleasantly. "Gundar wants his money. He's tired of waiting."

"Tell him I'm doing my best."

"Your best isn't good enough anymore, Solo." His eyes moved to Rey again. "Maybe what you need is a little motivation." He nodded to a Trandoshan behind him, and the other bounty hunter stepped forward, heading for Rey.

"Are we fighting these guys?" Rey asked Ben in an undertone, eyeing the bounty hunter.

"We're outnumbered right now." He was also watching the Trandoshan's approach. Louder, he tried to reason with the man in black. "There's no need for that. I'll get Gundar his money, I just need a little more time."

"Time's up, Solo."

"At least we can agree on one thing," Ben mumbled, just as the Trandoshan went to grab Rey's arm.

The shot echoed in the crowded alley and the Trandoshan thumped to the ground.

As one, Ben and Rey dived behind a nearby stack of crates and Rey pulled out her blaster. "What was that about being outnumbered?"

"I wasn't going to let him touch you!"

They exchanged fire with the crew of bounty hunters, and Rey rolled her eyes. "My hero." She fired off a couple shots and was gratified to see a Rodian yell and drop his blaster, holding his arm in pain. "Did your brilliant plan also include an escape route?"

"Working on it!" He ducked out and ran to another precariously piled stack, shooting as he went.

Rey watched as another man dropped, though the man in the black armor was still bearing down on them, taking evasive maneuvers himself. A fat raindrop fell on her cheek, and she swiped it off.

Then her heart sank as a new bounty hunter appeared at the end of the alley, then another, then three more. All with blasters raised, ready to join the fray.

Their enemies' backup had arrived, and Ben and Rey needed a new plan—and fast.

Suddenly, she was being dragged across the alley by invisible hands, towards—Ben?

He grabbed her arm once she was within reach and pushed her behind him as he pulled a metal cylinder from his belt, pressing a button on the side to cause the cylinder to emit a beam of bright blue light.

A lightsaber. A Jedi weapon! She'd only heard stories of the Jedi, but those stories fascinated her more than any others had.

At the sight of the lightsaber, the bounty hunters circled around them all drew back a few steps.

"When I say 'run,' run, okay?" Ben muttered to her before turning back to the crew. "You know what this is," he called. "And if you let us leave now, I promise I won't kill you."

This was his brilliant plan?!

"Please tell me you know how to use that," she whispered, and the look he gave her was two parts terror and one part dubious Solo charm. He was definitely bluffing.

The bounty hunters seemed to come to a similar conclusion at the same time.

"Time to go," she thought she heard him say, before he said, "Run!"

They took off down the alley, ducking into another one as soon as they could.

"You have a Jedi weapon?" She threw the question to him as they rounded a sharp corner and listened for pursuit.

"More or less."

"Are you a Jedi?"

"No. Can we talk about this later?"

"How did you get it if you're not a Jedi?"

"My uncle gave it to me. Look," he turned to face her directly, "I can explain all of this when we aren't being chased by bounty hunters. Okay?"

"I'll hold you to that."

He chuckled. "I know you will." With another glance around, he started off again. "This is not how I thought this day was gonna go," he grumbled under his breath.

Rey followed, mind racing as she took in this information. Ben was not a sharer, and even though they'd been travelling together for months, some days she wasn't sure she knew him at all.

Now, she learned he also had a connection to the Jedi, at least through his uncle, whoever that was. Several things about Ben that were disconnected at first glance started to piece themselves together in her mind.

Intermittent raindrops switched to a drizzle that covered everything, briefly distracting her from her thoughts. She laughed and held out a hand. No matter how many times she saw it, she would never get tired of rainfall.

A shout behind them reminded her that there were more important things to focus on at the moment.

Right before pain exploded between her shoulder blades and everything went black.

—

Ben glanced back at a shout to see Rey shudder and crumple to the ground.

His heart stuttered and a quiet "No!" was wrenched out of his mouth before he could stop it. She couldn't— He couldn't—

He dropped to his knees beside her. Pulse? Check. Breathing? Shallow. He spotted a dart amidst the blood but before he could do anything more, he was surrounded by bounty hunters once again.

"Take her," the leader said carelessly.

When he was younger, Ben thought the expression seeing red was ridiculous. Your vision can't change to only see red, right?

He didn't think that anymore.

Waves of icy anger burned down his spine. They did this. They hurt Rey.

They would pay for what they had done.

Sheltering Rey's body with his own, he let out a yell steeped in pain and founded by rage.

When he looked up, three bounty hunters were motionless against the wall. Another was crawling away, his leg bent at an unnatural angle. The man in black armor, who he'd considered the leader, was struggling to stand, his expression akin to horror.

Revulsion turned his stomach as Ben surveyed the damage. He'd lost control. But he couldn't stop now. Not yet.

He stood slowly and shakily drew the lightsaber again, igniting it and pointing it at the man. "Tell Gundar the next time he sends bounty hunters after me, I'll send them back to him in pieces."

The man didn't even respond. He just ran.

Without sparing the fleeing bounty hunter a second glance, Ben pulled out his comlink and crouched beside Rey. "Ady, we need a lift. I'll transmit our coordinates, meet us at the closest landing."

Then he scooped Rey's limp body into his arms and staggered for a higher level.