"The problem is," Rose was saying, "this ship has a unique signature embedded in the main computer that identifies the vessel and the crew that are supposed to be on board. If we commandeer it, the First Order will know we're lying the moment we signal for landing privileges."
The team was gathered around the petite engineer in the cockpit of the First Order vessel as she explained their predicament. Ben was a fair pilot, but he wasn't as tech savvy as Rose. He hadn't seen this problem coming.
"Is there a way to rewrite the signature?" he asked, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.
"I would need a droid to talk to the computer," Rose replied. She sighed. "Honestly, it'd be best to get an entirely new chip, just to be safe. Sometimes it's possible to tell if something has been overwritten."
"Where can we acquire a chip like the one you need?"
"There're plenty of downed TIEs around," Finn observed. "Can we take one of their chips?"
Poe grimaced. "They all looked pretty fried to me. Besides, each ship class has a different chip style. A TIE chip wouldn't fit this vessel. We'd need something from a Xi- or Upsilon-class, and by the looks of it, this ship is the only one around that's intact."
Beside Ben, Rey frowned thoughtfully. "Would an older chip work?" she interjected.
The team turned to look at her as one.
"How old?" Poe asked.
"Imperial-era old."
"Like from a Lambda- or Sentinel-class?" The pilot exchanged a glance with Rose, who shrugged. "It could work," Poe answered, turning back to Rey. "But where do you propose we find one of tho—oh."
Ben saw where Rey was going with this. Moments later, the same realization hit Finn.
"You've got to be kriffing kidding me," he groaned. "Jakku? We've gotta go back to Jakku?"
Rey and Poe nodded. Finn cursed under his breath.
…
With Poe's ankle still a bit tender, and the darkness of night quickly descending outside, the team opted to camp in the First Order transport vessel. The skies had remained quiet over the rest of the afternoon, so Ben figured the likelihood of the officers having sent a transmission and then cleared the history was scant. They should be safe for now. Finn shut the ramp and set a safety code to keep it locked for the night, and Poe switched on the proximity alert on the computer, so if any unexpected visitors stopped by, an alarm would trip and notify them.
As Rey and Rose dug through the storage compartments for dinner rations, the group gathered at the table in the cabin.
"I know the First Order is the enemy and all," Poe said, accepting a ration from Rose with a nod of thanks, "but man, do they know how to build a ship. This thing has all the bells and whistles."
Ben couldn't help but smirk. It was true; the First Order built a smart ship. He wondered what Poe would've thought of his old TIE Silencer.
The team ate quickly, eager to get a good night's rest before the next leg of their mission began. It was decided that the girls would take the officers' closed quarters while Poe, Finn, and Ben would kip on the open troopers' bunks.
Rose claimed the fresher first, followed by Rey. While the girls showered and readied for bed, Finn and Poe lounged on their cots, chatting quietly. Ben settled on the cot closest to the corridor. If they were to be ambushed in the night, he would be the most prepared to counter the attack.
Rey exited the fresher in a cloud of sweet-smelling steam, her damp hair hanging loosely about her shoulders, arms full of her wraps and boots. She padded to the room directly across from Ben's bunk, and gave him a small smile as she shut the door behind her.
Poe jumped up for the fresher next, and Finn took his turn after him. By the time Ben finished preparing for bed and stepped out of the fresher, all the lights save for the dim floor illuminators had been doused. Poe was snoring soundly, sprawled across his cot on his back, and Finn lay stretched out on his stomach beneath his blanket.
Ben quietly went to his bunk and lay down facing Rey's door, his back to the other men. He went to pull up the standard-issue blanket, and his feet immediately poked out from under the hem. Rolling his eyes—Not everyone in the galaxy is the size of a Jawa, for Force's sake!—he drew his legs up under the blanket so his feet were covered.
It wasn't terribly comfortable, but it didn't take him long to start to drift off. It had been a long few weeks. His muscles slowly grew lax as he sank deeper into the cot.
In his semi-state of awareness, he thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He didn't get a sense of danger, but something about it caught his attention. Squinting fuzzily in the dark, he was about to get up to investigate when he realized it was just Finn.
Probably just taking a last fresher break before falling asleep properly.
But Finn passed by the fresher, and continued across the cabin to Rose's room. He unlatched the door and silently let himself inside.
Ben blinked. Oh.
A tight feeling curled in his stomach. Unbidden, his eyes flicked to Rey's door, but he quickly quashed that wistful line of thinking and screwed his eyes shut.
Go to sleep, Ben. Just go to sleep.
…
Rey's perspective
The small port window let in a stream of bright morning light, gradually rousing Rey from a deep slumber. She cracked her eyes open, squinting in the light, and gave a sleepy, contented sigh.
She hadn't expected to sleep so soundly, especially given her unfamiliar surroundings. She was pleasantly warm and surprisingly comfortable in the officer's cot beneath the thin blanket. She yawned so widely her jaw cracked, then stretched her body in a long line—
And suddenly became aware of the weighted sensation of an arm draped over her waist.
That arm held her cocooned against a very warm, very firm, very comfortable body. It engulfed her perfectly, the chest, hips, and legs fitting behind her own as flush as custom-made ship components. There was a warm snuffling, with just the hint of a snore, at the crook of her neck and shoulder.
It wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Quite the opposite, actually. But she hadn't remembered anyone coming in, let alone giving them permission to do so.
Not that she would've said no if she'd been asked.
Slowly, so as not to wake him, she turned to look over her shoulder—but no one was there.
The sensation dissipated, and she sat straight up in bed to turn and look properly. There was no one there; just the fuselage wall. She felt the slim stretch of bed next to her, but it was cool. Nothing was changed in the room. Even the door was still latched.
She shoved the blanket off her legs and scrubbed her palms over her face. What the kriff had that been about? Was her mind so desperate that it was concocting fantasies to sustain her?
Cheeks burning at the thought, she stood and put on her clothes from yesterday, then unlatched the door and stepped out into the common barracks. The ship was still darkened, and by the sound of it, everyone else was still asleep.
She started to go down the corridor when the sleeping figure across from her room caught her eye, and she paused.
Ben.
He was sound asleep, curled on his side facing her door. One long arm dangled off the edge of his cot, and even with his legs bent, his toes stuck out from beneath the hem of his blanket. She cocked her head to the side, wondering at how well she would've fitted against him. It wasn't an unpleasant thought, but perhaps it was an ill-timed one. Ben was a hard man to read.
She let out a silent sigh. She really wished he'd let her in.
He looked younger in his sleep, she thought to herself. The ever-present crease between his stern brows had relaxed, and the firm line of his lips had softened. They were parted slightly in slumber, and she could hear his deep, even breathing peak on a light snore before settling quietly again. His long dark hair, which she'd admired since the day she'd met him, was a wild mess, spread over his face and pillow like a spill of engine oil.
He shifted in his sleep, his foot poking further out from beneath the blanket, and something clenched in her chest at the sight. He really was ridiculously tall. Had he slept like that all night, cramped and half-covered in the chill air?
Moving quietly, she went back into her room to strip the blanket off her cot. She returned to Ben's bedside and gently draped it over him, ensuring his feet were covered, then tugged his own blanket up over his shoulders. He sighed in his sleep, and she smiled.
On instinct, she reached out to comb the hair out of his face, but froze short of touching him for fear she might wake him. She didn't want to take such liberties without his permission.
She retreated to the main cabin to brew some caf before she got herself into trouble.
…
A little while later, Rey heard a snort and a dull bang come from around the corner, and then Poe came shuffling into the cabin, bleary eyed and curls standing out at odd angles from his head. She poured him a cup of caf, and he wordlessly nodded his thanks.
"How's your ankle?" she asked, sitting across from him.
"Much better." His voice was gravelly with sleep. "Thanks again for that. That was some wild Jedi work."
She raised a brow at him, smiling despite herself. "Thanks."
He took a long drink from his mug, then set it down and folded his arms on the table, leaning toward her. "So. Jakku," he prompted.
She shrugged. "It's our best bet. Don't you think so?"
"I do. I just wonder what it'll be like for you, going back there."
Rey thought back to when she'd first met Poe and Finn. The two men had crash-landed on Jakku after escaping the First Order's clutches, but they'd been separated in the aftermath. She'd found Finn stumbling around Niima Outpost with BB-8 in tow, desperately searching for water. Poe had found them later, with the First Order hot on his heels. They'd stolen a junk ship out from under Unkar Plutt's lumpy nose and made their escape, only to find out later that it was the legendary Millennium Falcon when they were captured by the equally-legendary Han Solo, who'd promptly taken them to the Resistance.
Jakku wasn't a pleasant place, as Finn and Poe had learned during their brief stint on the desert planet. Rey had shared some of her experiences with them during their subsequent travels. Finn tended to make his distaste for the planet clearly known, but Poe gritted his teeth and bore the unpleasantness silently. For the normally-gregarious pilot, it showed a remarkable streak of maturity and consideration for her feelings.
He knew it bothered her to think about going back. To potentially see Unkar Plutt again. To be faced with that desolate landscape, and the loneliness and lack of hope it represented to her. She'd spent so much time there, barely surviving, waiting in vain for her parents to return even though she knew deep down they never would. It would be hard to face those memories again.
Ben had helped her realize it was in the past. It hadn't been easy to wrap her mind around it. But he'd made her feel welcome in the Resistance, like she had a place where she belonged. A home. All her friends had made her feel that way, and she was exceedingly grateful for them. She might not have any blood family left, but she had a family of her own construction, and she loved them all dearly.
"I'll be fine," she assured Poe with a soft smile. "It won't be for long. And I won't be alone."
"Damn right you won't," he confirmed, grinning back at her, then he slapped a hand on the table. "Well! Once these lazy sacks of bantha fodder get up, we can head back to the Resistance ship, load up your scraps, and head out."
They'd agreed that the enemy shuttle needed to stay on D'Qar for now. If the First Order scanned the planet, they would read the ship's signature and hopefully not realize anything was amiss. Hopefully.
Ben was the next one awake. He came in a few minutes later, and glanced at the two of them sitting at the table with a narrowed, sleep-glazed look. Raking a hand through his mussed hair, he went to the sideboard to get caf. On his way past, Rey noticed a pillow crease on his cheek. The little flash of humanity warmed her.
When he'd poured his caf and looked ready to leave again, she pushed out the chair next to her, a silent invitation to join them. To her pleasure, after a moment of deliberation, he took it.
As he took a drink, she regarded him in the safety of her own mind. She had realized some time ago that despite his aloof exterior, Ben was a sensitive man. He would surely kill her if she ever said as much out loud, but in the privacy of her thoughts, she could contemplate the idea.
From the little she'd gleaned about him, she knew that he'd been shipped away from his home as a boy and foisted upon an uncle who didn't seem particularly keen to have him around. His uncle didn't seem to trust him, or especially esteem him. His parents were distant, too busy with their own lives and endeavors to spend much time with him. Had he even had a true childhood before being thrust into the rigors of Jedi training? Had he known fun, or trust, or love?
He mostly kept to himself. He didn't seem to have any friends aside from their small team—and he didn't seem to consider them friends on most days. He usually tolerated her well enough. He tolerated Rose and Finn. But he didn't like Poe at all, and Poe didn't like him either. The two shared an animosity that went back to before she'd joined the Resistance, and she didn't know if she would ever fully understand it. They were both good men, but they were forever biting at the chance to be at each other's throats.
But no one else seemed to like Ben, either. The high-ranking officers distrusted him and questioned him. The techs, pilots, and recruits steered clear of him. She didn't understand why.
In the little time she'd known him, she'd come to care for him quite a lot. He was intelligent and witty. He was a good teacher; tough, but patient. And he was actually very sweet. She thought back to Ahch-To, when they'd meditated in the ancient temple and gone swimming in the waterfall pool. She'd seen glimpses of him that she doubted many others got to see. She'd witnessed his easy teasing and gentle manner, his strength and compassion. She wished the rest of them could see it, too.
But ever since she'd spoken with Luke on Ahch-To, Ben had been distant from her. She had been upset with him at first for pulling away from her. She'd been abandoned enough in her life, and for him to leave her had stung more sharply than she'd expected. She just wanted to know his story. But as time had passed, she'd realized that was what everyone else wanted from him, too. They used him for his knowledge and his help, and once he gave it, they denounced him, challenged him, or avoided him. For such a private person, that had to be excruciating to endure.
It was no wonder he didn't want to tell her what had happened in the vision. He was probably afraid of losing her, too.
It still hurt a bit that he didn't trust her any more than that. She would never, could never, give up his friendship, no matter what his story was. But he'd been conditioned over many years, by many people, not to be trusting. Having grown up on Jakku, she understood that concept intimately. You didn't trust someone until they proved themselves to you. And she hadn't proven herself to him yet.
So, on the morning the team had left for D'Qar, she'd decided her new goal was to earn his trust—by simply being his friend. No matter the circumstances, no matter the differences, she would stand by his side. He could tell her his full story, or not. She would trust that he was doing the right thing, as he'd asked her to, and she would prove to him that she was his friend, regardless of anything else.
It would be done by little gestures like this, she thought to herself. Inviting him to sit next to her, even with Poe sitting across the table. Making sure there was caf in the pot. Holding his hand while they meditated. Smiling at him. Making sure he knew he was welcome and cared for. Making sure he knew he wasn't going to lose her to his enemy. In time, she would prove herself to him—with little gestures like this.
"How did you sleep?" she asked him, recalling how she'd woken to the sensation of someone curled around her. She was curious to know if he'd experienced anything similar.
"Quite well," he replied. His voice sounded like she imagined molten rock might sound—low and deep and slightly grating. It did interesting things to her stomach, but she didn't detect anything in his words other than exactly what they meant.
Perhaps it had been her imagination after all. Damn.
Poe excused himself to use the fresher, leaving Rey and Ben to quietly drink their caf. But the pilot wasn't gone long; when he returned, he wore a puzzled frown.
"Anybody seen Finn?"
Rey shook her head and looked at Ben. He was hiding a smirk behind his mug.
"Last I saw of him was last night," the Jedi replied calmly. The look he gave Poe was pure innocence. Rey didn't believe it for a second.
Poe scratched his head, then shrugged and headed to the cockpit.
Rey spun to Ben. "What aren't you saying?" she demanded.
He snorted. "You'll find out eventually," he said enigmatically.
"Is he all right?"
"More than all right, I'd say."
She scowled. She liked Ben very much, but he could still be incredibly frustrating when he wanted to be. "You're so difficult," she grumbled.
He nodded in agreement. "I am, I really am."*
She snorted. Whatever the reason, she was glad he was in a good mood this morning. Ben was a lot of fun when he was in a good mood.
Once he finished his caf and looked more awake, Rey took their mugs and put them in the little cleaning droid. "I thought we might make a head start and haul the scraps back to the other ship," she said as she started the droid's cleaning cycle.
Ben nodded.
"Hey Poe, any signs of life out there?" she called in the direction of the cockpit.
"That's a negative," Poe's disembodied voice called back.
"All right then, we'll see you back at the ship." Ben stood and followed her to the exit, where she unlocked the code and lowered the ramp.
As the ramp settled on the ground below, she thought she heard the whoosh of a door back in the berths opening. Glancing back at the sound, she turned just in time to see Finn exiting Rose's room and tiptoeing through the barracks to the fresher.
Eyes rounding comically, she swiveled back to look at Ben. He raised a knowing brow at her, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh. What a scoundrel! He'd known all along where Finn was.
"Come on!" she hissed at him, snagging his tunic sleeve and tugging him out the door.
He allowed himself to be dragged down the ramp, where they gathered their collection of scraps and Force-lifted them for the trek back to the Resistance ship. It was tiring, using the Force for so long, but Rey saw it as a test of endurance. She would have to be strong for the tasks ahead.
As Ben loaded and secured everything, Rey ran through the pre-flight checks and readied the transport for takeoff. They were going to have to stop over for fuel somewhere.
She fished out her comm and pressed the button. "Are you guys ready to go?"
Poe's answer was a moment in coming. "Almost. Rose is finishing up in the fresher, then we're headed your way."
The other three members of the team arrived a while later. Rose had several officer uniforms in hand, explaining that she intended to fit them on the way to Jakku and make any necessary alterations.
Poe joined Rey in the cockpit and took the co-pilot's seat next to her. Together, they lifted off and rose through the trees, soon leaving the forests of D'Qar behind. Rey put in the coordinates for Jakku, and Poe slid the lever home. The hyperdrive engaged, and the ship shot into space.
…
Poe promised to keep an eye on the fuel gauge. With little else to do during the flight, Rey went to the cabin to see what the rest of the team was doing.
Rose sat at the table, disentangling a pile of old headsets as she began her search for working parts. Ben sat across from her, sorting through the scrap metal and setting aside pieces of varying size into some form of organization. Finn wasn't in the cabin; presumably, Rose had sent him to the back of the ship to try on uniforms.
Rey plopped down beside Ben. "How can I help?"
He spared her a glance, then refocused on his work. "Start sorting through these and figure out which pieces might work for your armor," he instructed, gesturing to the scraps. "Breastplate, vambraces, greaves… whatever you'd like." He picked up another piece, studied it, then tossed it into one of the piles.
She settled into her work beside him, picking up pieces, turning them over in her hands, and setting them aside. After a time, she moved to the floor so she could spread out more, and held up the pieces to her limbs, imagining them reworked to fit. Slowly, her suit of armor began to take rough shape.
"How are we going to refit these pieces?" she asked, peering up at him. "We don't have a metalsmith in the Resistance."
"Still working on that," he admitted. "Figured I'd practice on a few of the extra pieces first."
"Wait—you're going to do it yourself?"
He shrugged.
She considered him as he continued to sort the scraps. The man's ingenuity and determination were unrivaled. She was deeply impressed by him.
"And you said these Knights of Ren wear masks, too?" she asked.
"A helmet with a full-coverage visage, yes." He held up two pieces of scraps and compared them, then discarded one in favor of the other. "Any luck, Rose?" he asked his table partner as he reached for another piece.
Rey looked to Rose, who had begun to dissect the rusty headsets and pick through the components. "These are actually in decent shape," Rose replied, delicately tugging the comm loose from one of the frames. "I should be able to retrofit them into voice modulators."
Ben's gaze flicked over to the headsets. "Good."
The three of them fell silent as they worked. The scrap piles slowly took over the cabin floor. Finn eventually came back into the cabin, having selected the best-fitting uniform, and picked his way across the littered floor to let Rose examine the fit. She was happy to announce that at least his uniform wouldn't need hemming.
Poe brought them out of hyperspace a while later to stop for fuel and food, then they continued on their way. Finn sat at the table and helped detangle wires while Rose went to try on uniforms. Having sorted out her armor pieces, Rey took out the Jedi text she was currently working through and picked up where she'd left off. Ben studied the scrap pieces laid out before him, a deep furrow between his brows, before finally selecting a few extra shards and retreating to his room to experiment with ways to refit the metal.
Eventually, Poe poked his head out of the cockpit. "We're almost there," he announced.
A/N: Starred (*) phrases were borrowed from Star Wars! Also, I took a bit of artistic license with the ships' layouts, seeing as nothing I found online exactly fit the needs of the story; I hope nobody minds.