Chapter 11: Secrets of Ben Solo

The Geonosian transport blasted out of hyperspace right into atmo, dipping beneath the stormy, overcast clouds to glide over the churning sea. Kamino was almost entirely covered by water, with the only land artificially created by chrome landing platforms connected by skywalk bridges. The architecture looked like islands, standing tall as sentinels in the middle of the frothing waves and buffetted by the wind and rain.

Finn peered out from the open side panel, hood low over his eyes. "I have a bad feeling about this..."

"Relax, boys. We'll just get in, get what we need and get out," Poe, who was driving, called from the cockpit. He taxied them low onto the slick durasteel of one platform and cut the engines before following Finn, Neek'o, and Snap Wexley out into the downpour. Blinking rain droplets out of his eyes, Poe led the way up to the glass-plated hydraulic doors. Behind him, Finn voiced,

"Do we have, like, decent ID docs to enter this thing...?" The doors simply whooshed open for them.

Neek'o raised an eyebrow. "Kaminoans must be pretty friendly to have no security."

"Their work has always been freely shared, for those lucky enough to find this place," Poe called back. Squishing into the whitewashed corridors, the general pulled out a scanner and cast it around the spacious hallway. "During the Clone Wars, the planet was wiped off most star charts, and for good reason: this is where the Clone Army of the Republic was commissioned and built." He frowned. "Now, according to the intelligence report I received, the payload should be... this way." He headed to his left.

"So, what exactly are we here for, anyway?" Snap gruffed, his jelly gut bouncing with his heavy tread as he brought up the rear.

"Something pertinent to the First Order. The components of a potential biological weapon that needs to be destroyed."

"Won't the Kaminoans be pissed when we destroy their work?" Finn wondered.

"According to the intelligence I received, the Kaminoans merely stored it; they didn't create it." Another hydraulic door parted for them, and the quartet stepped through, swaying to a halt when they laid eyes on what was inside.

Thousands upon thousands of glass vials stacked on shelves from floor to ceiling as far as the eye could see.

Neek'o drifted up to Poe's side, eyes huge. "What is this place? A storage room for clone parts?"

"This isn't for clones..." Snap muttered low, as he studied a row of vials next to him. "It's a DNA bank."

Wandering down the maze of rows, the four men peered at the multitude of vials.

"Here's another row of DNA!" Finn called.

"And this row contains... sperm," Neek'o reported.

Snap scrutinized the labels with fascination. "And they are all labeled the same... so they must all, whether DNA code or sperm, belong to the same person..." He squinted, then his beady eyes bulged. "Ben Solo." He lost his breath. "The First Order has all the tools at its disposal to make thousands more Kylo Rens."

Finn shivered. "So, it really is like cloning without doing the, you know, actual cloning."

Poe worried his bottom lip. "A contingency plan, in case the Supreme Leader went down. And there will be acolytes coming after this..."

Snap turned to the team. "We have to destroy it."

Neek'o happily held up a wad of thermal detonators in each hand, tossing a few to Finn. "Let's set the charges. Place them row by row, three to an aisle."

But Poe hesitated. Drifting close to a row that contained hundreds of vials with Ben's sperm, he thought of Rey, the man's grieving widow. Had Ben lived, would they have wanted to start a family together? Probably. And he, Poe, had been the one to deny them that dream.

Yet maybe...

"Think we'll have enough?" Snap was saying behind him and off to his right, as he stooped at the other end of the aisle to set the charges.

"Does it matter?" Neek'o's voice wafted over. "The chain reaction will bring the whole place down. It should, anyway."

Impulsively, Poe snatched up two vials of Ben's sperm and stuffed them into his cloak. Busy setting the thermal detonators, neither Snap nor Neek'o noticed.

But Finn did notice.

Eyes wide, Poe infintesimally shook his head and raised a finger to his lips, eyes pleading. Finn cocked a ruffled eyebrow, but said nothing. Soon, Snap and Neek'o rejoined them. Poe hung his hands limply at his side.

"All set?"

Snap grinned eagerly as he passed Poe the remote. "Care to do the honors, General?"

"Back to the ship," Poe nodded. "We'll blow it sky-high from there."

Returning to the Genosian transport, as Finn lifted off, Poe pressed the button, and watched as the entire landing platform went up in little mushroom clouds. The entire structure, including the skywalk bridges collapsed to the sea and sank beneath the waves.

Sighing, Poe's free hand fingered the two tiny glass vials in his pocket...

Arriving safely back on Ajan Kloss, Poe and his men greeted Rey and Adem warmly, whom had beaten them back home by a handful of day cycles. The Jedi passed her general a data chip containing the medical files for everyone involved in the First Order.

"Neek'o and Finn should be able to find any answers they want in there," she told the pilot. "But my advice would be leave the choice of what they want to know up to them."

Poe nodded slowly. "And the Sterilization Implant?"

Rey pursed her lips tightly. "Our theory wasn't correct. The truth should be Adem's to tell."

Poe studied her curiously. "I see." His face relaxed into a smile. "Well, how about you lot join us for a drink at the Cabana after your shift in the hangar? The Ticos will be there, too. My treat!"

Rey smiled tiredly. "Sounds fabulous."

That night, Poe, Neek'o, Rey, Adem and Finn and Rose gathered at the counter of the cabana bar, talking and laughing.

"I've never been to an asteroid field before. Only flown through, but still..." Rose chittered to Rey. "What's it like?"

Rey smirked. "Cold, desolate. Gald to be rid of that place, weren't we, love?"

"Quite," Adem smiled gently at her. Beaming at him, Rey laced her fingers through his and pecked his lips without another thought.

The effect on the rest of the counter was instantaneous and incredible. Poe's blue milk dribbled out onto the polished mahogany wood, the coconut shell raised halfway to his lips. Next to him, Finn was clenching the underside of the table, staring Adem down protectively.

Breaking apart gently, Rey and Adem remembered they had an audience and flushed furiously.

"When the bloody kriff did this happen?" Neek'o almost bellowed to no one in particular.

Rose squealed. "Spill. Now!"

Rey giggled. "It's all been a little fast, but... we kissed and..."

"Rey Solo, were you drunk?" Finn demanded.

"Finny!" Rose squeaked in mortification, smacking at her husband. "What a thing to say! Rey's a grown woman who knows what she wants."

"She's also pretty much my baby sister," Finn growled, rounding on Adem. "So, if you hurt her..."

"I'll do right by her. You have my word."

Finn nodded stiffly, satisfied.

Chuckling, Poe now took Neek'o's hand as they women darted over to a nearby table, chittering. "Well, if we're in the business of sharing life-altering news... Neek'o and I have decided we want to start a family."

His words floating over to them, Rose and Rey stopped gossiping to squeak happily.

"You mean you're getting married?" Finn's face broke out into a beaming smile.

"Not yet, there's still so much work to do. But..." Neek'o blushed. "We've been living together, and we both have talked it through."

"What will you do?" Rey drifted back over to them. "Adoption is always an available route..."

"Yeah, orphanages will be full of displaced children from the war!" Rose chimed in.

Poe nodded. "While we'd love to help, Neek'o and I would prefer to have our own flesh-and-blood child through surrogacy... preferably with the birth mother being someone we know."

Rey and Rose looked at each other. Poe nodded again. "We are actively considering both of you, if you would have us."

Rose's eyes filled with tears. "I'd be so thrilled if you asked me." Gnawing at her bottom lip, Rey was more quiet. She turned to Poe thoughtfully.

"The baby would come from your sperm, wouldn't it?"

Behind his partner, Neek'o nodded heavily. "It would have to." Smiling sadly at him, Rey started when Poe suddenly took her hand.

"Could I have a word?"

"Yeah," she blinked, following him a short distance away. In a darkened alcove, Poe turned to her.

"Just so you know, you're Neek'o's and my first choice. Rose would be a back-up, but we already know we want to have more than one, so eventually, we would be honored to ask her as well. Of course, whether or not you want to do it, that's your call. We'll respect your wishes either way."

Rey glanced at him uncertainly. "Can I think about it? I'd like to talk it over with Adem."

Poe gave her a teasing smile. "Things are serious, then."

She turned pink. "Things are wonderful so far. As to whether they become permanent... possibly."

"Well, I'm happy for you. And..." Poe dug into his cloak. "I have something for you." And he handed her the two vials. Rey held them to the light, frowning in bemusement.

"What is it?"

"The potential bio-weapon we found when we got to Kamino; it was filled with vials of Ben's DNA and sperm."

At this, Rey's heart started to beat very fast. Ben...

"We destroyed the lot, except for these two vials of his sperm that I smuggled out." When she gazed at him, in utter shock, he could only shrug. "It was a spur-of-the-moment thing; Finn was the only one who saw me. I just thought... if you wanted to have the opportunity to have Ben's baby, you still should. Something to remember him by. Kalonia could arrange an appointment for IVF." At her blank stare, Poe amended, "In-vitro fertilization." Watching Rey peer at the vials with fluttering hope, he chuckled. "I have a feeling I know whose baby you'd prefer to have..."

"Hmmm," Rey mused with a soft smile. "Jury's still out." At his blink of surprise, she chuckled and then quite suddenly kissed the corner of his mouth. When she drew back, her eyes were wet. "Poe Dameron, you really have changed. Thank you."

Poe beamed. "You're welcome."

In her nightdress in front of her vanity that night, Rey studied the two glass vials held protectively in the stand of her make-up kit - a gift from Rose. Poe's words played back over and over again in her mind. She was now at a crossroads.

She and Poe had made their peace with each other, but the hurt and anger over his hand in her husband's death still festered. Poe had seemed to gamely resign himself to whatever resentment Rey harbored towards him for that, but now his act of kindness had muddied the waters. With all that had been presented to her this evening, Rey was at a crossroads. Without the vials, Rey might have dismissed Poe's request out of hand and let Rosie have her chance at motherhood, albeit from afar. Yet even with them, Rey still wasn't sure, as the memory of her husband loomed...

In life, Ben had hated the cocksure pilot, and with good reason. Poe had tried to keep them apart, and tortured them both before finally resorting to manslaughter. Wouldn't Rey be dishonoring the memory of her fallen spouse if she agreed to bear the child of his murderer? And what did that kind of act imply? Did it imply a forgiveness that she thought she would never reach - that she knew she shouldn't reach?

Tormented, Rey rose from her vanity and fell to her knees, kneeling before the Force in prayer.

"Ben..." her eyes closed with her whisper. "Be with me... Be with me... Be with me..." She reached out towards their Bond.

There was no answer, as much as she still held hope that he would respond to her call someday, whether as a ghost or in her dreams. Rey remained genuflected, eyes shut as happy memories with her husband swam behind her closed eyelids.

She stirred, shivering in delight, when she felt a pair of lips dip a kiss into the soft curve of her neck.

"You think too much," Adem's voice rumbled playfully. "Come to bed."

Rising to her feet, Rey smiled at him as she craned back to kiss him on the lips. Her mouth quickly parted to grant his tongue entrance, and the kiss soon grew heated enough that Adem swept Rey off her feet and carried her grandly over to their bed.

It hadn't taken too much deciding to ask Adem to move in with her, when they arrived home from Polis Massa. Adem had arrived on base with only a scant few possessions and the clothes on his back, so the blending of their lives had been simple. And it leant to easily accessible, volcanic sex, as deposited on the pillows, Rey eagerly opened her knees to him, trembling as Adem curled back the hem of her frilly nightgown. But as he made to crawl on top of her, Rey cheekily smirked and suddenly flipped them, swinging one long and creamy leg over his waist as she languidly moved to straddle him. Shrugging her gown off her shoulders, she let her breasts hang free, satisfied at the choking sound Adem made when he realized she wasn't wearing a bra band.

Growling, seizing her smart little buttocks in his fists, Adem rutted against her. Throwing her head to the sky and moaning, Rey furiously rocked back, humping her hips against his. She dipped her head to lazily kiss him as Adem's fingers palmed her breasts, so that her nipples stirred to a peak under his touch.

"Force, love, you're soaking wet! Gods, I want to fuck you!"

Against his lips, Rey smirked. "So fuck me!" she hissed, her voice more growl than Basic.

Shoving his sleep pants to his ankles, Adem took her fiercely, ramming up into her and moaning as her wet walls clenched tight around him. Resting her hands lightly on his chest, Rey frantically bounced up and down on his cock, kissing him until she couldn't stop, sliding her tongue in and out of his mouth.

"Urrrrrr... Hurrrrrr... Ooooooh... Ahhhhh... Hmmm... Mmmm... Adem, Force, I'm - I'm gonna cum, love. Oh, Force, I'm cumming - don't bloody stop!"

Toes curling to the ceiling, Rey shuddered violently as she came all around him with a happy scream. Adem quickly followed with a grunt.

Panting, Rey rolled off her lover and curled into his side. "Maker, I love how you shag me!" she managed breathlessly.

Adem chuckled low, kissing her swollen breasts. "What did Poe want to talk to you about?" he murmured.

"Hmm," Rey snuggled deeper against him. "He's considering asking me to be his and Neek'o's surrogate. Rosie is also a candidate."

"Both fine choices, I'm sure," Adem praised. He grew quiet though as he reached the same conclusion that had also been on her mind all evening. "Of course, there is the elephant in the room..."

Rey nodded. She had told Adem the whole sad tale of her doomed first marriage, and Poe's hand in ending it, that first night after they made love on the Falcon. "If I agreed to do this for him and Neek'o... would I be dishonoring Ben? Would I be granting forgiveness for something I shouldn't?"

Adem's large fingers drummed over her arm lightly. "Do you want to grant Poe your forgiveness? For killing Ben?"

Rey stared at him, her brown eyes pained but uncertain. "I... I don't know."

Adem shrugged. "The choice is yours. It's a question only you can answer, love." He cleared his throat, sitting up in bed. "And... speaking of questions..." his voice wobbled as he dug for something in his pocket. "You can tell me if it's too soon..."

Seeing the gold catch the light, both of Rey's hands went to her mouth as she gasped in astonishment. "Oh, my Maker..." she croaked, her voice thick with tears.

"But I love you, and I want to be with you, and I am thrilled that you seem to feel the same about me..."

"Oh my Maker..." Rey whimpered, fighting back tears.

Adem held the ring out to her shyly. "Will you marry me, Rey Solo?" At her pondering silence, he continued, "I know you might not want to take my name. I'll still ask if it's one you want to share. I know my father was a horrible man, but -"

"Of course, yes," Rey whispered.

Adem stuttered to a stop. "What?"

Rey beamed tearfully. "Yes, Adem, I'll marry you. And I'd be proud to share your name. Not because it's your father's, but because it's you." Beaming, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him lightly. "But..." she murmured, drumming her fingers along his jawline. "I think I'd like to hyphenate it. Rey Solo-Hux."

Adem grinned, shyly slipping the ring on her finger as Rey held out her hand. "I thought you might say that."

She blinked, giggling in surprise. "You did?"

Adem shrugged. "Ben will always be a part of you. I know you'll want to honor that."

Radiant, Rey kissed him again. "I love you."

He just smirked. "I know."

"And... I think I've made my decision," Rey conclude softly.

"To marry me? Of course you did," Adem laughed.

"No," Rey smiled at her fiancé softly. "Something else." Reaching for her holoprojector, she clicked it open. "Poe? It's Rey. I have a few things to tell you..."

"Oh, Rey... you look so beautiful..."

"He's a really lucky guy..."

"I'll say - handsome too! I wonder how many times he can go in one night?..."

"Rey, sweetie, sit still and let me finish your hair!" Rose, the Matron of Honor, rang a brush through Rey's chestnut bangs.

Rey tuned out the chittering of her bridesmaids as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. On this, her second wedding day, she looked like a graceful swan in the silky bridal gown now adorned across her shoulders. When she and Ben had wed, she had gotten married in her white Jedi robes. It should naturally feel different to wear something new as she married again to another man, and it was probably simply better that way. Though a simple girl in her tastes, Rey had been thrilled and pleased when Adem, her husband-to-be, had gifted her with credits to spend the day shopping for the right dress on Coruscant. She, Rose, Kaydel and her other bridesmaids had made a day trip of it, having a splendid time.

Escorting the bride out of her rooms, Rose had all the girls line up as the wedding march began to play outside the tiny military chapel. Smiling at her own husband, looking dashing in a three-piece suit, Rose pecked Finn's cheek as she stood to prepare her walk down the aisle.

Fighting back tears, Finn managed, "You look stunning, Rey."

She smiled tearfully. "Thank you, Finny."

The wedding march began to play, and Finn offered her his arm. Blushing, Rey looped her elbow through his, and allowed her best friend to escort her down the aisle as she remarried.

At the altar, Neek'o at his side, stood Adem, looking strapping in a tuxedo. His fiery red hair was slicked back (making Rey remember how handsome he had been the night of the Ticos' wedding reception, when she and he had danced), the long strands tamed back into a ponytail. As Rey advanced to her future, she sent up a prayer to the first man she had married: "Ben Solo, I'll love you till the day I die," she whispered.

Passing Rey off to Adem, Finn hustled into the front pew as the Holy Man blessed the couple. Nervously, Rey took her future husband's hand and gazed deep into his eyes whilst they exchanged rings and vows. And as she peered deep into his entrancing, ice-blue eyes, she knew that for the second time in her life, she could say that she had a husband she loved, and who loved her in return.

I love you, she thought, staring at him. But if we're gonna make this work, you have to be more than ADM-4548. You know that... don't you?

"...as long as you both shall live?" the Holy Man asked.

"I do," Adem beamed.

"I do," Rey smiled back.

Upon being pronounced husband and wife, Adem bent and softly kissed her, Rey's eyes fluttering shut in bliss. She had no more doubts as she and her new husband embraced and kissed. There was only Adem, and the sound of fireworks in the distance which Poe had set off. Rey clutched at her new husband closer, deepening the kiss with a happy sigh.

When the newlyweds broke their wedding kiss at last to cheers, a jubilant Adem picked Rey up and spun her around. She clung to him, laughing musically, and when he set her down, his radiant, beaming, blushing bride smushed his face in her hands and kissed him passionately. Drawing away, smiling into each other's eyes, the couple raced back up the aisle to well-wishers and headed for the reception hall, where they waltzed in each other's arms all evening...

She and Ben had never had a proper honeymoon, so Rey enjoyed spending a romantic week exploring the galaxy with her new husband. Adem took her on a grand tour of all the most luxurious worlds. They visited the waterfalls of Tython, cliff-diving from the rocks above and skinny-dipping in the pools below. They went sight-seeing along the streets of Coruscant. On sunlit days, Rey would open her knees and let Adem make love to her for hours on end in the meadow grasses of Naboo.

It was a beautiful feeling, to be married again.

A few days after the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon, Rey arrived back home at their Ajan Kloss apartment to find her husband completing packing. Standing on tiptoes to give him a kiss in greeting, Rey raised her eyebrow. "What's all this? I feel like we just unpacked everything."

Adem shrugged. "Poe has sent me out on a mission. There's a squadron of Stormtroopers who have been attempting an uprising on Ryloth. They'll need reinforcements to be liberated. Poe asked me to lead a strike team."

Rey's lips pursed into a thin line as she frowned. Then, turning on her heel, she flounced out of the apartment. Sighing, Adem dithered after her. Only a couple weeks of marriage, a few months knowing her, and he was already well-familiar with that look: his wife was not pleased. He didn't manage to catch up with her until they had reached the hangar bay. "Rey... it wasn't exactly a friendly request. Orders are orders..." He hurried his pace to keep up with Rey's long strides. "At least let me say goodbye..."

"Goodbye," she cast over her shoulder, the word short and clipped.

"We haven't had a chance to discuss -"

"I'll be waiting for your holo-message when you get in," she informed him cooly. Rey felt him grab her arm, turn her to face him.

"Well, then... goodbye."

For a brief moment, she regarded him silently. Then, as she turned to walk away, Adem pulled her back, cupped her face in his hands and pushed his lips fiercely against hers in a passionate kiss.

"Mmmmm..." Rey gasped into Adem's mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed instantly, though it took a moment for her body to catch up and also swoon in surrendering acceptance. She stiffened at first, then relaxed into the kiss, returning and deepening it as her hand found itself gently cupping his elbow.

At last, Adem and Rey broke apart with a pronounced smacking sound that echoed a little in the hangar. Adem's lips captured Rey's once more, very gently, before he finally drew away.

Maker, even when she was mad at him (well, all right, she was actually mad at Poe), Rey loved kissing her husband. This kiss reminded her of their very first, wild one in the Falcon.

For a moment, they both stood there, panting.

"Try to understand..." his voice was gentle.

"I am trying," Rey huffed, the frustration lacing her voice.

"We always knew more troopers would defect. Finn, Neek'o and I need to be ready to transition them back into society."

"At least let me go with you!" Rey begged. "I'm a Jedi, I can help."

"No," Adem smiled at her sadly. "I floated up the idea to Poe, but he wouldn't have it. Though I have no doubt you could handle yourself, a mission like this is particularly dangerous. Stay here, honey. You'll be safe."

Rey whimpered. "Adem!" she cried. She could not do more beyond say his name before she was hugging him.

Stepping back and kissing his wife goodbye lightly, Adem smiled. "I won't be long." And he headed for his transport.

It was only a week or so later when Adem Solo-Hux successfully returned from his mission to Ryloth, a healthy batch of free Stormtroopers in tow to help the Resistance effort. Seeing his wife tinkering with a nearby Corellian Corvette, he snuck up behind her and hugged her around the waist.

Sensing the familiar presence spike in the Force, Rey squealed and thrashed in the embrace, not entirely certain who it was as Adem dragged her back into a darkened alcove where they could be alone. There, he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her breathless, rutting his pelvis along the space between her spread legs and dry-humping her.

"Mmmmhmmmm..." Moaning, thrusting out her hips, Rey furiously gyrated back, even as she and her husband broke their frantic kiss and she hugged him around the neck, burying her face into his fiery hair. Days of separation had taken a toll on the young Jedi. "Oh, Adem..."

"I missed you, Rey..."

She shivered in the circle of his arms. "There were whispers... that you'd been killed. I've been living with unbearable dread." She clung to him, as if to assure herself that she was real.

Adem sent her an easy, lopsided smile. "I'm all right." Kissing her hair, he knew and understood why she would be fretting for his safety. The pain of being a widow at not quite 20 must have been so difficult for her. Though proposing to her was one of Adem's happiest memories, he knew that his wife had been hesitant to marry again. The thought of remarriage, only to have her second husband leave her suddenly or be killed in action, no doubt had frightened her.

Rey weakly smiled back and burrowed back into Adem's arms, wanting him close. But when he dove back in for another kiss, she laughed brightly and twisted away. "Patience, my handsome Stormtrooper. Come to me later."

Adem just pinned her to the wall and ravished her lips, holding her close. When the shock of their desperate kiss faded, he could feel Rey trembling in his embrace. "What is it?"

"I have a surprise for you," Rey grinned nervously. Running her hands up and down his muscular arms, she studied his chest contemplatively for a moment before she announced, "The in-vitro fertilization worked for surrogacy. Adem... I'm pregnant."

Adem stared at her. "You got pregnant? With Poe and Neek'o's baby?"

Biting her lip to hide her beaming smile, Rey nodded. "I had wanted to wait to have the appointment until you were home, so we could go together. But I know we had discussed it and agreed and... Hmmm..."

Her adorable rambling was cut off by Adem swooping down and kissing her again. When he released her at last, he was all smiles, though his eyes were wet. "Congratulations. This is such happy news. I love you."