(Before Kylo Ren) (Ben is thirteen) (Timeline – before "The Y-wing Incident")
"I want to be rid of a pest," Ben announced.
Poe glanced up from the wire he was whimsically knotting (it was a dull morning) and scratched a nail against one tooth. "I didn't put the tooka kits in your room this time."
"Not those – her." Savagely Ben pointed behind him. A small, furry creature gasped and ducked behind the wall, brown paws curled around the doorway.
"Oh." Chewing the inside of his cheek, Poe rubbed the back of his neck. So the rumors were true. Solo family gatherings had been a little odd since contact had been established with Endor's moons.
"You can speak to her," Ben declared. "Make her go away!"
The little kit whined, pressing chubby paws against her mouth. Coughing on a splutter, Poe braced a hand against his mouth and cleared his throat. "Well, she's … a young lady, Ben." He willed his face to stop glowing. "I imagine that – cough – being a friend of the family, you would do the Solo heritage honor by showing her around the base."
Ben wanted his death. Kriff, that kid was deadly.
Blowing out slowly, Poe turned on his heel and strolled away, forcing a breathless whistle.
"You're a fatuous, fungus-ridden Exogorth!" Ben screeched after him.
I know, Poe mused with a devious grin. And it's a wonderful feeling.
(Aftermath)
"Tell me about him?"
Invitation was usually required before speaking to General Organa while she was off-duty. The few hours Leia had to herself were precious and scarce. Poe hoped she wouldn't mind an exception.
Hand sliding down the doorframe, Leia sighed. Pity glimmered in her eyes before she beckoned for Poe to enter. "About my son?"
"I know there's more to this," Poe said as he slipped inside. He fidgeted, unable to sit, too awkward to stand. Leia settled herself on the arm of a chair and absently rubbed her arm.
"He was special to Han," she said quietly. "Unpredictable, vivacious, eccentric, but… cherished. Even I couldn't make Han smile the same as when he held Ben." She looked down at hands that were worn by years, by heartache, by sorrow.
"I'm sorry," Poe murmured. He felt foolish for bothering her.
"He was special to you, once," Leia said gently. "You used to come over for dinner. Every week if I could help it. I remember seeing you two together and imagining you were brothers. You had a way with him that no one could understand."
"Did he do this?" Poe wondered, fingering the scar on his scalp. He knew it had to be right – he shouldn't be surprised that Kylo Ren had hurt him in the past – but imagining that Ben hated him felt surreal.
Leia cringed in age-long sympathy. "There was an incident." She sounded as though she had presented this apology time and again. "Ben was furious with me for restricting his training. I told him we were considering sending him away – for his own benefit, of course – but it was cruel of me to threaten. I didn't know what to do with him….." Sighing deeply, Leia summarized, "He threatened a droid, is what the pilots told me. You stepped in his way."
She raised both eyebrows and Poe sheepishly ducked his head. "I guess I always was running into trouble."
Leia hummed in agreement, but her gaze was sober. "I was terrified when I saw you. Han and I were both there. He held you down while you thrashed. I thought you were gone. I thought….." She turned aside, lost in memory. "I thought you would wake in the medcenter, and your mind would be destroyed. I couldn't watch; Han had to report for me. You were so full of life."
Drawing back into herself, Leia spread her hands in a semi-shrug. "Ben was devastated. He wouldn't eat until Han forced him, and even then it was difficult to keep him out of the medcenter. He wouldn't rest until you woke."
"He wasn't there," Poe said faintly. He remembered retching, and the lack of a certain presence. "I thought he was angry with me."
Leia rose and walked to the windows, hugging herself. "You changed him, Poe. That's why he's holding back now. That's why you returned to us."
"You think he released me?" Poe surmised. "He would have killed me on Jakku if….?"
Leia rubbed her forehead, clouded with uncertainty. "I don't know. I thought … after his father… there was no hope. But you…." Glassy eyes sought Poe for reassurance, even though she knew he had none to offer. "Poe, you're all I have left. And you're all he has left, too."
"You think I could change him," Poe asserted.
Exhaling raggedly, Leia shook her head. "I think he's changing himself. You're the deciding factor."
All Poe read into her words was the memory of a past burden. You're responsible for his fate.
.
.
.
(Lazerkat wanted a "someone crushes on Ben scene".)
A few of my reviewers have been kidnapped by the First Order again. I blame it on Hux's evil program where humanoids are boxed into a classroom for hours on end. Stay strong, my Resistance allies! (And First Order spies... you too.)
Thank you to Rinter, Lazerkat, feelthatfire, lunarchronicles andcockatiels, Miss Corrine, BAD WOLF1221, hellraiserphoenix, JunJunyil, and guest HuntedRanger for reviewing!