AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing!
"Life as a Dyad"
By EsmeAmelia
Chapter 4
A sudden jolt in the Force woke Ben up. He opened his eyes to find Rey staring at him, awakened by that same jolt, her face illuminated by the eerie nighttime city lights. She placed her finger on her lips, though Ben didn't need her to tell him to be quiet - the unfamiliar presence was drumming into his being. Someone was here.
Rey silently crept out of bed and picked up her lightsaber from the nightstand, igniting the bright yellow blade and tiptoeing towards the door. Though he had no lightsaber anymore and hadn't used one in twenty years, Ben followed his wife - he wasn't about to sit around while she faced whoever was out there alone.
Once they were in the hallway, they ran into Gavin, wearing only a t-shirt and boxers, his own green lightsaber activated. "I sensed it too," he whispered before the three of them cautiously made their way to the living room, the yellow and green blades guiding them in the dark, hardly daring to breathe.
When they reached the living room, Rey flicked on the lights - only to find the room empty. Ben no longer sensed the strange presence, instead sensing that whoever it was had left in a hurry, but that did nothing to slow the intense drumming of his heart.
"Look!" Gavin exclaimed, pointing at the front door.
Ben gulped, seeing that what Gavin had noticed was a single piece of paper on the floor - apparently whoever had just been here had slid the paper under the door. A few hesitant steps later, he was able to read what was written on the note in large, black, angry letters.
"FUCK YOU KYLO REN!"
. . .
"Someone's just trying to scare you, that's all," said Rey, placing her hand on Ben's shoulder as the family sat on the sofa together, a late-night smashball game playing on the holovid that none of them were actually watching. D-O was shut down for the night in the corner of the living room, but no one was ready to wake him up and try to explain what had happened yet.
Ben's hands were shaking so hard that he almost tore the note. He kept reading those four words over and over, as if the note had hypnotized him into looking at nothing else. "I'm putting you in danger . . ." he muttered.
"Dad, come on," Gavin said from Ben's other side. "It's just a note."
"Just a note?" Ben exclaimed, shaking the note in Gavin's direction. "Just a note? Look at it! Whoever did this obviously knew I'd be coming home today and planned it ahead! It's a threat!"
"Ben . . ." said Rey.
"No!" Ben snapped. "We can't just pretend this didn't happen! Our family's in danger because of me! I shouldn't have come home, the generals shouldn't have argued against life in prison, I should have just stayed there!"
"Ben!" Rey repeated in a louder, sterner voice, grabbing the note. "We don't know yet if anyone's in danger!"
"So you think this person will stop with a note? Or even if they do, do you honestly think this is the only person who's still angry at Kylo Ren? You think just because I served my time, that means the galaxy will be all forgive-and-forget? You think no one will be angry enough to try to use my family to get to me?"
At the word family, he broke down in tears, burying his face in his hands. "I can't . . . I shouldn't . . . I should leave."
"You'll do no such thing!" Rey declared.
"I already destroyed my old family!" Ben sobbed. "I can't risk destroying this one as well!" He gestured at the wall covered with holos. "Look, you and Gavin had your family life without me - you should keep having it without me! I'll just ruin everything."
"Dad, stop it!" shouted Gavin.
"Yes," said Rey, tearing up the note in sharp, determined motions. "We're not going to let this spoil things." After crumbling the pieces up in her fist, she placed her free hand on her husband's cheek and gently pushed his head upwards to look him in the eye. "What do you think your parents would do if they saw this note?"
Ben sniffled, his mind's eye seeing his parents' angry, determined faces at someone doing this to their boy. "Th-they'd be mad as hell and they'd fight for me."
"Exactly," said Rey, her finger kneading into her husband's cheek. "We're a family, Ben, and we'll fight for you just like your parents would."
. . .
Calling the police only resulted in a "contact us again if something else happens" and going back to bed resulted in what felt like hours of staring into the darkness and listening to his wife's sleep-breathing. Insomnia had been part of Ben's life for as long as he could remember, but why did it have to come tonight, his first night out of prison? Couldn't the Force have granted him one night of peace before bringing hell down on him? Several times he found himself wishing that he could still climb into bed with his parents and feel protected between them.
But somehow he must have fallen back to sleep at some point, since when he next opened his eyes, sunlight was pouring through the window and Rey was gone, a note on her pillow. With a long yawn, he grabbed the note and struggled to read it with his bleary eyes.
"Ben,
Gavin and I have gone to work. We figured we should let you sleep after what happened last night. There's cereal in the kitchen that you can have for breakfast and both Gavin's and my work numbers are saved in the com. Please contact us if something else happens. I'll call you at lunch.
Love,
Rey"
And no sooner had he finished reading than the holocom on the nightstand beeped. Once again his half-asleep body fumbled to grab it, nearly dropping it as Rey's hologram popped up.
"Ben?" she asked, peering at him. "Are you still in bed?"
Ben yawned again, running a hand through his bed-tussled hair. "I got your note - just now, in fact. I'm guessing I slept until lunch?"
"It appears that way," said Rey, a cheeky grin spreading across her face. "You still look so cute when you've just woken up, you know that?"
Ben felt his face reddening. "I'm sorry."
"What's there to be sorry for? After the scare we had last night, you deserved the extra sleep. I'd have probably stayed in bed with you except that, well, these speeders don't fix themselves."
"You own the shop," said Ben. "You could have taken the day off."
"I know, but, well, I need the days I can take off for Force school seminars. Besides . . ." Her grin twisted slightly in a mischievous way. ". . . we never had a honeymoon and I was thinking we might like to remedy that sometime soon."
Despite what happened last night, Ben found himself smiling back. "I'd like that - a lot."
"So yes, I had to work today so we can save days off for that." Her eyes shifted. "Our mysterious note-sender hasn't been back, have they?"
"I just woke up, but I think I would have sensed something if they did come back."
"Good." Rey awkwardly ran her hand through her three hair buns. "You be careful, okay?"
"I am strong in the Force. I may be in my fifties, but I'm not helpless."
"I know." She took a deep breath. "I'll be home in a few hours - of course, if the Force links us, I'll see you before that."
Ben grinned. "Well, if the Force doesn't link us, I've got D-O for company."
Rey nodded. "I told him about what happened - I think he's eager to see you."
"Then I should probably get up."
"Probably." Rey blew her husband a kiss. "Love you."
"Love you too."