Trigger Warning: This chapter features a dream containing abandonment and assault. It also features an incident of Bullying.
Additional Warnings: This chapter also has nudity and swearing alluded to. Note, the rating is still T for Teen.
Last On: Finn gave Ben a tour. Ben and Rey had a friendly sparring match.
Chapter 16
After a long and surprisingly not catastrophic day both Ben and Rey curled up in their separate beds to sleep for the night. As Rey slept she tossed and turned with her dreams, which this night were not very pleasant.
She was back on Jakku, though she didn't know how she got there. She looked up in the sky and saw the Millennium Falcon make it's departure. Rey cried, as she knew her friends were leaving her behind, again.
Then she felt the cold, hard hands of Unkar Plutt grab her wrist. "Time to put you to work now, little -unny" His Gravely voice said.
Rey was trying and failing to pull free when she felt her leg brush against something warm. It woke her from her slumber. As she turned, she saw she was no longer alone in the bed.
"AAAH," Ben woke to Rey's screams. Then he felt a pillow being thrown in his face.
It took only seconds for Ben to ascertain the situation. He put up a hand. "Rey, I didn't do anything. This is…"
Rey, however, was too anxious to listen to his pleading. "Get OUT!" she shouted.
Ben pulled the sheet from the bed with him as he stood, wrapping it around his waist.
Suddenly it felt like there was a great wind in the room, and Ben was taken by surprise. A force pushed him towards his door. It opened before he slammed into it. Then it slammed shut once he was through.
Ben turned and tried to open his door again. The mechanism for its lock wouldn't respond. "REY!" Ben shouted as he tried again. When it continued to fail, he let slip a few curse words, and kicked the door.
By this time a few heads began peeking out, but they quickly went back before Ben could notice them.
Ben was furious. He tightened the sheet around his waist, and stormed down the hall, towards the women's wing.
When Ben stopped in front of Rey's door, he was too frustrated to push the buzzer and wait for her to respond, so instead he loudly banged on the door and called out to her. "Rey! Rey! This is nonsensical! You can't kick me out of my own room."
Rey's response came out of the staff sized hole in her wall, which earlier had been temporarily repaired with a piece of mesh. "You were naked! I know you don't always sleep naked. Why suddenly tonight?"
"In space it's cold, This planet gets a lot warmer at night." Ben tried to reason with her. "Let me back in."
"No!" Rey's reply was resounding. "[Curse] Rey, do you expect me to sleep in the hall the whole night!" There was no reply, which frustrated Ben more. He turned and was about to kick Rey's door. Then someone approached, and he turned to face him instead.
"Hey, you need some help?" asked Finn.
"This isn't what it looks like. The bond formed again, and she threw me out of my own room, like this. Now, I can't get back in," Ben hurried to explain.
"Yeah, sounds inconvenient," Finn said. "Why don't you stay in my room. It's this way," Ben followed Finn as he led him back to the men's wing. "I don't use it as much lately. I'll put in a call to have your door repaired first thing in the morning. Right here."
Before Ben entered the room he turned, feeling suddenly more appreciative of the traitor. "Thank you."
"No problem," said Finn before turning away.
The next morning Ben walked into conference room four.
"You're late," his mother said.
"Yeah, there was an incident," said Ben as he sat down.
"I heard," said Leia.
Ben leaned over and covered his reddening face with his arms on the table. "Really?"
"I think all of the Resistance heard about it by now. You made quite a commotion last night," said Leia. Her face was serious when she spoke, but broke into a smile soon after. "I think she's getting more powerful."
"Yeah. Last night she pushed me out, and burnt out the electronics on the door. This morning they had to replace the entire thing, just to let me back in there," said Ben
"I don't think she meant to, though." said Leia.
"Oh, her intentions were clear last night," said Ben.
"I doubt it. These days, when she does anything with the force, she doesn't mean to do it. It's all adrenaline. She's been practicing, but it takes a good deal of time to learn, as I'm sure you know."
Lt. Connix interrupted their conversation by walking into the room. "Are we ready to begin?" she asked.
"Not yet, I haven't explained the plan to Ben yet, Kaydel" said Leia. As Connix sat down, Leia turned back to Ben. "We are going to take advantage of having the, still rightful, Supreme Leader here. You are going to make a recording. I'll give you the speech. You will be stating your identity and discounting Hux's power."
"But what good will that do? As you said yesterday, they spread that holo everywhere. Anyone who sees it will assume I am just an impostor," Ben asked.
"Introducing any bit of controversy into our enemy's control of its forces, and weakening the First Order from the inside-out. For now, you will not be disclosing your connection with the resistance. We'll make it seem like you escaped with a few loyalists and are rebuilding a fleet of your own."
Once Ben agreed to make the speech, Connix dragged him out to another room. He was given another outfit to put on. It was similar to the one he wore as Supreme Leader whenever Hux managed to parade him in front of important persons, but with a few differences. First, the shoulders had pads in them to make them stand out more prominently. Second, there was a sash added with a unique symbol stitched on it. This symbol was similar to the one the First Order used, only in the center of the black and white wheel there was a flying bird.
When Ben was dressed, he tried to leave the dressing room, only Connix pushed him back inside and sat him down in front of a mirror. Leia walked in after her, and the two began talking as Connix brushed his hair and applied make-up. When Ben tried to object to the makeup, Leia gave him "the look" and he sat back down again with a sigh.
When they finally had him in front of the camera, he started to read the speech they gave him. "Galaxy, I am your Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. You have heard of my death prematurely, through the lips of those who seek power over the interests of the First Order, and of the galaxy. I, indeed, am alive and well. Your loyalty is being tested right now. If it holds true, I will remember all who remain by my side."
When Ben finished, he looked around. Connix and Leia were behind the camera and their faces did not look pleased. "Try it again, only try a bit more force in the beginning," Connix suggested.
Ben did just that, only this time they had a different point. And again, but Leia wanted the end to sound more gentle. Eventually he huffed, "I hate giving speeches. I have people for that."
Leia responded by patting her son's shoulder and whispering, "You're getting there. I'm proud of you son."
When Ben finally finished a version of the speech that was satisfactory enough, they let him go. After changing back and washing his face, Ben headed to the Cafeteria for lunch.
As Ben walked through the line today, he noticed quite a few eyes on him. There was a server who whispered something to another. Then they both giggled, but when Ben walked up to the table, the server stopped and looked down at the food embarrassed. Ben moved on.
Others were far less discrete. "I don't know what they allow in the First Order, but streaking through the hallways in the middle of the night is not allowed in the Resistance," Poe chided.
"Yeah, no one wants to see your dark side," another added, much to the encouragement of those nearby.
"That's not helping!" Finn said. As he walked up to Ben, he spoke again, "I know all of your superiors, and they WILL get a report of this."
His threat seemed to quiet most of the room. Everyone seemed to look away and stifle their laughter.
Finn put an arm up to Ben's shoulder. "You ok?" he asked. Ben nodded. "Come, you can sit with me."
Ben did just that and started eating his meal on a table with just Finn. The awkwardness, however, returned when Rose and Rey arrived at the Cafeteria. Rose, of course wanted to sit with Finn. And Rey didn't have any other plans but to join her. As Ben and Rey ate, they glanced around and down at their food, trying to avoid each other's glances as much as possible.
When they were finished with the meals and were taking their trays back to the kitchen, Ben turned to Rey and both spoke at the same time. "I'm sorry."
This revelation left them both staring at each other in shock for a few seconds. Then Ben spoke again, "I shouldn't have yelled at you last night."
"And I shouldn't have thrown you out. Rose said the door was completely fried," Rey said.
"You were frightened. I've done worse. Ask my mom sometime," said Ben. Then he added, "I could show you somethings that can help, if you want."
