Chapter 20 Mortal

Rey sat in front of a screen in the dark as she listened to the little beeping noises around her. She rubbed her tired eyes. She went back to work and began to type more information. She then reached for a disk and pulled it from the machine and set it aside. As she continued someone joined her and Poe sat down next to her handing her a cup of a hot drink. Poe sipped his and gave a sigh.

"You can go to sleep." Rey offered and she took a sip of her drink and continued to type.

"Rey," Poe's voice held some concern.

"Poe, I know," She looked to her friend and held back what she wanted to say. "I've lost some time, I want to get everything back up to speed."

"You lost time for a good reason ok." Poe assured her and Rey sat there. "Nearly dying is ok to slack a little." Rey didn't move and just sat there. She wasn't actually afraid of dying but she was afraid of what could have been left behind. This was her family now. But she barely remembers anything. She heard some one yell and that was it, everything was black. "Should have seen Ben take out the Order, hell of a pilot." Rey nodded and then continued to work. Poe was trying to loosen her up, have her relax while supporting her. "Ok, let's talk tech then." Rey looked at him and knew what Poe was trying to do but she just wanted to work.

The morning had come as Rey was sitting on the ground with smaller computers and scanners around her. There were two cruisers side by side with some of the fighters around. Rey put some numbers in a computer and picked up a piece of tech.

"Ok, Commander what do we do?" A fighter asked and Rey looked to the man.

"This is the locator and you're going to track that cruiser." Rey began to explain and then she felt Ben coming towards her.

"Do you need help?" Ben asked as he joined up with Rey and she shook her head no.

"We'll see how fast you find the cruiser." Rey finished and left as Ben stood there. He turned towards Rey as she walked away gathering her stuff and headed back to the hanger. Ben watched as she walked away wondering what was happening. He should take her to train but the vibe he just got was her wanting to be alone. The last few days since returning from the battle Rey has forwent rest and went back at work. Ben looked to the cruisers as they were heading to space to test the hyperspace tracker. They've managed small distances on the planet surface and for Rey to be sending it to space now seemed like a huge jump.

Rey sat at the computer to watch the process and to collect data to improve what needed to be improved. As she started she looked over and saw Ben there as he joined her. He took a moment to study her, a real moment to look at her. She still had a slight paleness to her; her eyes were still bleak. Maybe he should invest in a vacation together.

"I'm fine." Rey spoke up before Ben said anything. She started to type as Ben continued to watch her. Rey looked straight-ahead and then turned sharply at Ben. "What?" She spat and the last time her voice carried venom like that was when she called him a murderess snake and a monster. Ben could tell when he wasn't wanted so he leaned back in his chair and turned away. "I can do this myself." Rey insisted. What she really meant to say was 'Ben, get out.' Ben let out a frustrated sigh and got up. Rey then realized what she had done. "Ben," He stood there and turned to her. "I…I just need some time." The young Solo nodded and then left. Rey sighed and took a moment to refocus and then went back to work.

Ben stood on the mountaintop slowly sparring by himself. He can hear the hum of his saber as he slowly moved it. While trying to focus in the Force his mind still drifted to Rey. He can feel it and it was strange, she was not balanced. It's normally the other way around and it worried him. Ben then stood there as he looked off to the distance as the breeze was carrying a bit of a push today.

Connix was in the communication room feeling a little bored, as today was just a regular day. They should be happy to have some boring days ahead of them; the last fight didn't go as plan. While they won they lost fourteen of their own, fourteen too many. Connix was monitoring the sector making sure nothing that resembled the First Order was coming. They were becoming a real problem for the Order and that was only going to cause the regimen to search harder. Finn then joined up with her and sat down.

"Quiet out there?" Finn asked and Connix nodded. No distress signals, nothing right now. No one was really itching to leave but sitting around wasn't easy.

Ben had the Falcon open as he was fixing the hunk of a mess. He reached in for what should be a cable but there was more tape than cable. Looking back on what this ship once looked like or should look like, his father put it through the ringer. It's been across the galaxy more times than most other ships. It carried his father's life, it saved a princess, set a farm boy on his destiny, fought and won a galactic war and was the first ship he learned how to fly.

'A young Ben sat in the pilot chair as he waited for his father to show up. He looked up seeing the hanging dice knowing that's how his father won this old thing. Han always believed in luck and while he acknowledges the Force these days, luck was his deity still.

"Alright," Ben heard his father entering the cockpit and Ben was ready. "Nothing crazy today." Han suggested and that rained on Ben's parade. It meant they were just going to casually fly and then land. Han sat down as Ben started the flight sequence. The young Solo was now twelve and in the coming days he was going to be leaving for the Jedi Order. Maybe this was Han's last ride before letting his son go.

Ben took off to the stars and started to fly in the silence of space as Han relaxed in the chair. Ben barely glanced at his father, as they said nothing to one another. Han then looked to son realizing that next time he would see him he would no longer be a boy. Both he and Leia have no idea when Ben will return. Maybe they should have a different send off. Han leaned in and typed in some coordinates. Ben looked and then looked back up to Han.

"Gotta make a run, need some help." Han explained and Ben smiled and pushed on the hyperspace controls. "One thing," Han laid down the rules. "Your mother never finds out."'

Ben found the cable he needed and then went into the skeleton of the Falcon and laid on his back to fix her up a little. Ben attached the cable from one side to the other and it looked better. Ben pulled himself out and that was one of thousand repairs on this ship. It felt like he just needed to dismantle it and rebuild it.

"The main gunner is still damaged." A voice informed Ben and he looked to Rey as she stood there.

"Then let's fix it." Ben suggested and Rey nodded as they board the ship and headed down the hall to the main gunner pit. Ben climbed down first and then Rey scooted in. Rey sat in the chair as Ben brought in the tools so they can work. The gun on the outside would need some work as well but the inside needed to be rewired. The screen for the targeting was slow and very out dated and like the inner cables this whole ship was held together with smaller wires, wielding and tape for the most part. One day they may just be charging head on at the First Order and if the Falcon goes into battle in this condition then she'll be in pieces before the battle starts.

Rey turned on the tracker and turned the guns off so they don't accidently fire at anything. Ben knelt down and took off the panel looking at the inner workings and saw not just the damage but how old this thing was.

"What did Han do on his smuggling jobs?" Rey asked as Ben retracted his hand quickly from sparks.

"He kept most of it a secret." Ben answered because it was true. He smuggled illegal goods from system to system, across one set of stars to another. He would steal from one person to only steal from another. His smuggling days stopped during the fight of the Rebellion because he was made a General. Once Ben was born and there seemed to be peace in the galaxy he went back into the business. But Ben did go on a business trip with Han and when they returned it was late at night, his mother was worried but did not question the way the father and son looked because they looked like they got their asses kicked. To this day Leia still doesn't know what they did and to this day Ben hasn't spoken about it and never will not even to Rey. That was one of the most fondest father and son moments and he would never share it with it anyone. Snoke never knew or felt it. And when Ben killed his father that moment went through his mind to try and give him some comfort.

"You never wanted to be a smuggler?" Rey asked as Ben took apart the wires. Ben then looked to Rey and shrugged.

"I've always wanted to be a pilot." Ben answered because he did. He always wanted to be like his father. He wanted to be a Jedi to because it was in his blood. In fact being a pilot and Jedi was embedded in him. His grandfather was both, his uncle was both but because Han was a pilot, maybe the pilot side took over just a little more at times. He could fly just about anything out there. Poe was the best pilot the Resistance had and now he had a rival and trying to outmatch a Skywalker was one thing, to outmatch a blend of Skywalker and a Solo; Poe has met his match. But the Resistance can say they have the best star pilots in the galaxy.

The wires lined the floor of the gunner position and Rey leaned over as Ben looked inside the panel.

"How has this ship lasted so long?" Rey asked because as a mechanic this thing shouldn't even be able to get off the ground.

"Dad would say it's luck." Ben answered and then he realized something. Since turning to the dark he always referred to his father as Han, always. This may be one of the first times he has said 'dad' before, he hasn't said 'dad' since he was a kid. Ben took a moment to realize that and then went back to work. Snoke was right, Ben has his father's heart in him, something he cannot shake or get ride of. Ben went back to work; he didn't want to think of his father right now.

Rey was about to call a wire to her but instead Ben grabbed it and handed it to her. He wanted to make sure she understands it's just the two of them right now. And by physically handing it to her, she can feel him. He wasn't going to pry at her emotions but allow her to unfold if she felt the need to do so. These two had much in common and it wasn't just that they were strong in the Force but they were tinkers. They knew mechanics and how to build from nothing. They can share in that as well.

Rey can feel Ben wanted something from her but she didn't know where to start. She didn't want to seem like she was weak though. She should open up a little just to feel a little better. She knows she can talk to Ben. In fact after the mirror that showed her and not her parent's back on Ach-Too she didn't go to Luke about it. She went to Ben and he sat before her and listened. Luke should have been the one to listen and to give some kind of words of wisdom. But it wasn't Luke; it was Ben. He told her what she needed to hear that she was not alone.

They were alone in the galaxy; they might be last survivors of their kind. They were both left behind by those who should have loved them and kept them safe the most. And in the darkest parts they found one another. They bore their weakness to one another. They reached to each other as the galaxy continues to pull apart. In the night when they are alone, when they bare the most intimate parts to one another, they are far from alone. Weakness was both of them but they were also just a strong in that weakness.

"Were you afraid in the throne room?" Rey asked as Ben looked up. "Did you have any idea what was happening?" Ben then sat back and thinking back to killing Snoke it still seemed like a blur.

"I don't know what I felt." He was honest. "I knew Snoke had to die and when he said that he bridged our minds I felt…" Ben paused thinking. "I felt that was the last of it. He has tapped into my mind for so long and when I thought what we shared was truly because of the Force; I had to kill him." Ben wanted that Force bond to be theirs only theirs. But because of what Snoke did, the former Supreme Leader didn't know what beast he had awoken. That bond has yet to close and when Snoke was torturing Rey, Ben could feel her pain and it hurt. "I didn't have a plan on how though not until my saber came back to me and turned. Then I knew what to do."

Ben then started to rewire the panel as Rey sat there thinking. That day when they stood back to back fighting not knowing the outcome was also a blur for her. She can remember it but she had fear the whole time. But she felt the Force guiding them. Snoke may have started the bond but they enhanced it. When fighting back to back it felt like they knew what to do and how to defend one another. "Didn't expect you to grab my butt during a fight."

Rey then looked to him and remember that moment, it was in the moment type thing she did. She knew Ben was going to lift her up and back to give her leverage and power.

"It was your thigh by the way and I had to grab something." Rey defended herself and Ben looked up as she continued. "You just wished it was your butt." She added as she sat there and Ben half smiled as he continued to rewire the panel. Rey let her eyes linger just a little longer at him and then sat back for a moment. "What happened?" She asked him and Ben returned his eyes to hers. "I don't remember anything and…" Ben then let go of the wires as Rey looked around.

She didn't want to ask about her near death experience but she can't remember anything.

"I over heard Poe and Finn. Poe said what you pulled me out of I should have died." Rey finished and it was true, the blast and the debris should have crushed her. He should have found not her body but crushed remains. Anyone else would have been in pieces. "Is that true."

"Yes," Ben had to be honest. "I thought I wouldn't have found you." Rey nodded. "When I did you were lifeless and I thought I lost you but I wasn't going to leave you." Rey fought back the stinging in her eyes. He barely left her side and the only reason why he did was to enact revenge on the Order or at least parts of it. "I killed DJ and it was out of pure rage because I thought you were gone."

Finn had told Rey everything from the time the cruiser showed up to get them out of that town, that Ben plowed through the enemy so much so that when they returned he saw his X-Wing staring down the Destroyers. Ben wasn't fighting for the Resistance; he wasn't fighting for Rey's life but taking revenge. If Rey had died though at any point Ben probably would have gotten into an X-Wing and until he went down in a blaze he would take on the Order fist to cuffs.

"How did I survive?" Rey asked and Ben stood up.

"The Force." Ben answered. "In times of extreme distress both a Sith and a Jedi can use the Force to save themselves or at least try. It's like a…last defense." Ben finished and Rey understood. That's how Ben pushed back against the AT-ATs on Crait. He used the Force in defense but subconsciously he used the Force to save himself. In a matter of seconds Rey was able to protect herself. It worked even though she was knocked out and on the verge of dying. The Force kept her alive until she reached safety and medical attention.

"I still could have died?" She asked and Ben knew what she wanted to know. She faced down death, truly faced it. Ben put aside his work and made his way to the side of the chair as to be eye to eye with his equal. Rey was realizing her own mortality that Jedi were not immortals. The Force helped her but it was never a guarantee. As a Jedi she will face moments of possible death and there may be a day death will take her.

"Rey," Ben's voice was soft as this was a teacher to student moment. All Masters have a duty to tell their students that death was possible and that it will happen. Hopefully it happens at old age, when a life is fulfilled. But in a time of war, death was always around. "It's balance, life and death. Death can give life and life creates death." Rey looked to Ben not as her partner but as her teacher. "We will all die Rey." He continued to be honest. "I'm going to, Leia, we all do at some point." But this wasn't meant to be gloomy. "We all die but not everyone lives." That last part struck something in Rey. Some people are dead all their lives and they just walk among others.

They were both not ready for the other one to die though. Ben wasn't ready and yes he knows that he will fall from whatever grace he might have achieved if she dies. Rey doesn't know what she would do if she loses Ben but she knows loneliness will ensue and that will kill her. "Maybe," Ben paused thinking. "Maybe instead of thinking about that, about us dying…" He wanted to find the right words and not just for her. "Maybe it's what we do right now because if there's nothing else or no bigger meaning…if there's no…glorious end to this and everything we've done doesn't matter. Then the only thing that does matter is what we do right now."

Rey looked right into his brown eyes and knew what he meant. She couldn't help but smile a little.

"That sounded very Jedi like." Rey added and Ben sighed but it was true. What they do now and together is what matters. But what he said and how he said it spoke high volumes and how far he has come. Looking back from the first time she saw him, how twisted in the dark he was, he's come this far and he'll go even further. "Thank you," Rey whispered knowing she needed to hear that. Ben reached out and pulling her in for soft kiss. They then rested their foreheads to one another closing their eyes just taking in a quiet moment.

The Falcon had more work that needed to be done but the main gunner was fixed and ready for a fight. As the Commanders walked side by side in the hanger they saw Poe and Finn coming up to them. Connix raced behind them with a small COMMlink.

"Distress call." Connix summed up and Chewie walked over talking. "It's small but they may need a squadron." She explained and Ben looked to Rey wondering if she felt up to it. Her eyes answered and it was a yes.

"Blue or Black Squad?" Poe asked looking around.

"Ben had a good run the last time, Blue." Finn answered meaning Poe will lead the X-Wings. The six of them started to walk and formulate a plan.

"What's the plan?" Ben asked as they walked together heading to Blue Squadron to assemble the team. Poe then looked to Ben and smiled.

"How about this," The pilot started. "You go in, start hitting people hard in the face and we'll see where that takes us." Poe finished and Finn shrugged. Connix smiled and Chewie barked in an agreement. Ben let out a frustrated sigh knowing that was stupid but that's how this was going to go. Rey looked back up to Ben seeing his stoic face. He was just smiling moments ago; this flat face was for everyone else. As the group started off Ben looked to Rey and she gave a mischievous smile because she didn't grab his thigh this time. Ben kept his straight face but is eyes said it. The Commanders parted as they were getting ready for a small mission and Ben headed to the Falcon ready to fly the legacy ship.

A/N: Small chapter but a deep one. So, what's next? Anyways, what do you all think so far? I hope you like it so far. I feel we haven't had a Knight of Ren in while Let's discuss.

Thank you for reading, following and commenting.