(Before Kylo Ren) (Ben is 10)
The flu was encumbering. Coughing his esophagus out while throwing up was ghastly. Being petted and sympathized over by every kriffin' cadet in the academy was humiliating beyond compare.
So General Solo had forbidden visitors to Poe's room. Droids only.
She was so nice he could have begged her to adopt him. He was cold and aching and miserable and kicking off the blankets and ready to throw something just like the Solo kid, and it was marvelous not to have Jess cooing in his ear or Ech'ban running outside with a hand clapped over his mouth whenever Poe started to gag. No, Poe Dameron did not need compassion. He needed a black hole to burrow into until his stomach returned to where it belonged.
No visitors? When he heard the order he would gladly have benched his X-wing and surrendered himself to sanitation duty if the general had asked it of him. She deserved his loyalty.
The only problem remaining was the screeching acklay outside his door.
"I told you, Ben, no visitors in the sick room." Han's voice was almost as loud as Ben's boots thunking against the wall. "Leave the kid alone, for kriff's sake."
"You didn't let me in yesterday! What if he's gotten worse? What if I don't get to see him again? You let him visit me whenever I'm sick!"
"The worst you ever catch is a cold, and then you whine and complain until I pull him out of class. Take it easy, Ben. He's not dying."
The last word only resulted in a throe of howls. Poe flipped a pillow over his ears. "Stop, stop, stop…"
By some miracle of the Force (or a child's uncanny hearing), the noise ceased. Poe imagined he could hear Ben blustering, thinking of the best way to twist his parents' orders in his favor. There was a solid clap at the door before squeaky new boots stomped away.
"Fine!" Ben shouted. "If he dies I'll never forgive you!"
"Ben Solo!" Heavier footsteps quickly followed suit. "You turn around right now, young man, or your mother is going to hear about this and you know what…"
Poe squeezed his eyes shut as the sound died away, and tried to ignore the squeal of a passing droid. He tried not to swallow. Headaches and throat aches together? It must be a curse of the Sith. (The Force was real, right? Which meant that the bad side held a grudge against him.)
He was Poe kriffing Dameron. He did not need coddling, pity parties, or chattering baby Jedi. It would all pass in a day or two, anyways. He could take care of himself.
Independence sure was lonely.
"Poe! Poe!"
Mumbling, Poe turned towards the whisper and instinctively flung the blanket over his head. "G'way." His throat felt like he'd swallowed a vibroblade. Make that a lightsaber. Two of them. With cross-blades.
His pillow was suddenly snatched away and whacked over his head. "Poe!"
"Whu?" Dizzily Poe opened his eyes and squinted. A small form grinned deviously beside his bed. "Ben?"
"Not Ben! Shhh!" Ben looked around warily and pointed to the blond tangle on his head. "I'm Matt."
"Oh." Not a good time for role-play. Gingerly Poe cleared his throat. Ow. "Does General Solo know you're here?"
"Uh-uh." Ben shook his head and the technician goggles slid off his nose. "I'm undercover!"
"Oh. So am I." Poe burrowed under the covers again. "Night, Ben."
"Poe!" Ben whined. "I came here to see you!"
"Can you see me later?" Poe pleaded. "M'kinda tired." A gundark could have discerned he could barely whisper.
"But I brought you medicine so you'll feel better."
Poe's eyes flew open and he apprehensively pulled down the blankets. "Tha's not the vanilla you stole from your mom's cupboard again, is it?"
"That was Uncle Lando's – he has a chef. And it isn't." Proudly Ben held up a glassy red bottle. "It's cough medicine. I pretended I was sick so Mother would let me visit you, but it didn't work. You should drink this. It's better than canron!"
"Ben, how much of that did you drink?" Poe asked warily.
'Hic!'
Moaning, Poe snagged his pillow back and groaned into it. "Your mom's gonna kill me. Again."
"She's not my mom – she's Ben's mother. I'm Matt." Smugly Ben proffered the bottle and a spoon. "Drink it. You have to! I risked Father's eternal apathy!"
Poe flopped the pillow back, opened his mouth to retort, and then frowned. "That's … not exactly the word you're looking for."
"Whatever. Just drink it. I'm going to be in trouble already, so I may as well do you some good. Open your mouth." Insistently Ben prodded him with the spoon.
Sighing, wishing the little krayt dragon would leave him to be miserable in peace, Poe complied.
Turns out Leia's cough syrup tasted a whole lot better than canron.
(Aftermath)
The flu was ghastly. Balmorra Flu was born of the Sith.
Which happened to be exactly what Poe was tracking down when he was waylaid by disease on Dantooine. Logical explanation? It was Ben's fault – all Ben. The kid always had some sort of disaster trailing after him.
He'd had the flu to varying degrees before, and it all computed to one thing: wallowing in self-pity and appreciation for undisturbed sleep. Balmorra Flu did not afford its victims such luxury. There was a tiny lightsaber-dealing, helmeted imp dancing around in his head, and swollen sinuses translated to a piercing ache that rapidly spread from his forehead to his chin. The abandoned hovel he'd taken refuge in had a distinct lack of proper toiletries. Poe had sacrificed his sleeves to mop up his leaking face hours ago. He was hurting, alone, and thoroughly wretched, and he was certain this was the Force's payback for all the time he had refused help as a child.
BB-8 whirred unhappily, rolling from the door, to the empty chests that Poe had already rifled through while searching for medicine, and back to the pilot's hand. Anxiously the droid bumped under Poe's fingers and rocked, whining low until the other smiled.
"Thanks, BB," Poe murmured. "Take it easy. I'll be fine."
The droid looked up hopefully and chittered, roving away to scout the room once more. There was nothing helpful to be found – Poe had searched every nook before he felt too sore to leave the dusty bunk – but it kept BB-8 busy and that meant the droid could worry less.
What I wouldn't give for something ice cold right now, Poe thought, forcing a knifing swallow. Investigate Dantooine for leads on a pouty Sith lord? Brilliant plan, General Organa. Should've just put a tracker in that metal trap he calls a helmet.
Briefly Poe wondered what he would have seen if Kylo Ren had removed his helmet during the interrogation. He wasn't exactly the most daunting tyrant without a mask. Now you're losing it, Dameron. What's next – Phasma is actually gorgeous without the silver armor? Kriff, I'm as bedazzled as Finn when he first saw a toy store.
That had been an all-day adventure. Of course Finn had wanted a model of every fighter, whether Resistance, First Order or Ancient Empire. Poe's credit reserves had suffered, but there was something extraordinary about a former stormtrooper discovering his childhood. Rey would have to accompany them next time – after Poe convinced the general that it was the honor of the Resistance to cover her purchases.
The memories relaxed him enough that he was just beginning to doze when a horrible shrieking filled the drafty shelter.
"Force!" Clattering ensued, along with a slew of vengeful oaths. "Stand down, droid! I forbid you to incite him to foolish heroics again."
"BB?" Poe rasped, forcing his eyes open. He saw a blur of orange and white crash into a dark mass. Mechanical arms and electric wires spasmed as BB-8 attacked…
Oh kriff, Kylo Ren has come to capture me and I'm half dead already. He felt oddly at peace with the notion. Maybe the new First Order base had hydrators.
"Stop! Stop it!" Kylo Ren shouted, kicking BB-8's sphere. He leapt back, grabbing one leg, and snarled as his attacker whirred forward. "Dameron, call off your droid!"
"You tried to hurt'im," Poe remembered with a severe frown. That was the problem with the Y-wing incident. "Course he's mad."
"You're not defending a droid again?" Kylo Ren ridiculed. "I ought to melt it down for scraps – you'll be begging for my leniency then."
"Kay. Just lemme know when you get'im." That would take a while. BB-8 had recently learned how to set people's clothes on fire.
"You blasted – here!" Viciously Kylo Ren flung a bottle at BB-8's dome and lunged out the door, black robes swirling around his legs. "You've been reprieved this time, Dameron!" he called back. "Next time I return, the entire First Order will be with me!"
"Yup. Can't wait to blast'em again." Poe smirked when BB-8 swiveled its head in confusion. "He's nice that way. Did he bring me medicine?"
Perplexed, BB-8 held out the bottle, peered at it closely, and wobbled up to offer it to Poe.
"S'cough syrup, isn't it?" Poe weakly grinned. "I'm being condescended by a Sith lord with tantrums."
A very worried BB-8 attempted the comlink again. Poe figured it would still be some hours before aid from the Resistance arrived. Which was fine. It wasn't fair for Kylo Ren to let him go free, only to be captured instead.
"M'not thinking right," Poe mumbled. He blinked heavily and frowned. "He didn't use the Force on you?"
BB-8 tottered in the equivalent of a shrug.
"Course he didn't." Poe smiled wanly. "Cause he's nice that way. I think he promised once that he wouldn't hurt me with the Force again."
Looking away, he trailed off. "Of course he lied. He said he wouldn't but …"
It wasn't fair that emotions took advantage of him when he was sick. Curling into himself, Poe relinquished himself to the ache that he was finally beginning to understand.
"He – he was my friend," he babbled to BB-8. "He p-promised he would never…never..."
... He promised.
.
.
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This chapter was actually written before the Radar Technician made his first appearance in Chapter 29, but the timelines shifted a bit. Have some more undercover Ben! ;) (You can blame this one on Space Opera Singer - we were discussing how BB-8 should personally take on Kylo Ren in defense of Poe.)
Thank you to Lazerkat, time2read, CHiPsfangirl, Runawayvegas, Replica Velocity aka S5 714, hellraiserphoenix, Brievel, there'snothingwrong withwhoIam, Queenie23, Miss Corrine, JunJunyil, and Guest (1), Guest (2), and Guest (3) for reviewing!