The smell of cooking food roused Poe from sleep. He woke up much steadier this time. He was alone, and the pain and nausea had eased off greatly. He groaned all the same. That was always the way. He couldn't bear to get up. He felt exhausted, but he knew he couldn't stay in bed forever. He rolled out of bed, very slowly, feeling ten times older than he really was. He awkwardly dressed himself. He found that his chest lanced with pain whenever he strained his arm too much. It made putting a shirt on more stressful than he had ever had thought putting a shirt on could be. He gave up on buttons, and just went out into the main room, sniffing at the food happily.
"Something smells great." Kes stood at the stove cooking breakfast. Waffles, or pancakes or something delicious.
"Hey son. Feeling okay?" Poe shivered.
"Little chilly." His father glanced over at him.
"Finn, could you help Poe out with his shirt. His arm isn't working so good." Poe finally saw Finn and Rey sitting at the kitchen table, mugs of warm tea in their hands. Finn got up slowly, and avoided looking Poe in the eye. If he could have buttoned up Poe's shirt with his closed, he probably would have.
"Thanks." Poe muttered, feeling a little bit awkward. His father had seen that there was something between the two men before now. And that hadn't gone away. They were fond of each other. They had slept together. And now Finn was helping him dress.
"No problem."
Poe wandered around his kitchen peeking over his father's shoulder to see what he was cooking. Pancakes.
"Where's Dara?" He saw his father tense his shoulders.
"She's outside. In the ship. With an unexpected surprise." Poe didn't like the sound of that.
"I'm going out to see her." Before Poe had gone two steps, his father called after him.
"There's a blaster in the middle drawer of the cabinet in the living room. Bring it with you." Poe knew something was wrong now. He didn't ask why his dad thought he needed to bring a blaster with him to go and see Dara, but he trusted his father. He gave a smile to the other two, who were nursing their own wounds, and talking quietly. They didn't look too happy. He wondered if there was trouble in paradise between them. But they seemed to be arguing the same point together. They weren't unhappy with each other. They were unhappy with something else. The same thing. Poe retrieved the blaster from where his dad said it was, and held it in his good arm.
He hobbled his way out the front door, staring for a second at the Millennium Falcon parked up just outside his door. He thought for a moment how excited kid Poe would have been to see that ship outside his front door. He smirked for a moment. So maybe one of his birthday wishes had finally come true. He had been inside the Millennium Falcon when it had flown. He just hadn't been very awake for it. He made his way towards the ship, and climbed inside. He knew something was off straight away. There was a thickness to the air. Force. He was hesitant to continue inside, but he took a breath and strode forward. He thought that he was going to see something he didn't want to see on this ship. He was greatly uneasy. He came out level in the passenger bay and knew he had been right about everything he had felt entering the ship.
"You have to pay for everything you have done." Dara said, the cold voice of a Queen only penetrated by the slightest hint of strain and…. Pleading? Poe stared at Dara glaring down at her brother, bound heavily and barely able to move.
"They will put me to death for all I have done. If you wanted me dead, you could have just killed me yourself, you coward!" he hissed. Poe gripped the blaster a little bit tighter in his hand, and stared at Kylo Ren in horror.
"What have you done, Dara?" Poe's hand shook, his eyes wide. She turned slowly to look at him.
"I've captured our enemy." Poe wanted to shout from sudden panic. She had capture the galactic enemy number one, and brought him right to Poe's doorstep. He didn't voice his concerns.
"Feed him, but we'll have to leave soon. We need to hand him over to the proper authorities." Poe realised that Dara was the only person in the galaxy who was fully equipped to subdue and control Kylo Ren.
"Ben isn't going anywhere." Dara said, quietly. Poe knew she meant that he wasn't going to leave the ship. He was incapacitated. But Poe felt no better. He nodded, gripping the blaster all the tighter.
He walked woodenly back into his home, his breathing starting to come faster and faster. It came with great difficulty and pain. He found himself in his kitchen, his dad rushing to his side. The blaster fell from his suddenly slack fingers, and he found himself falling to his knees beside it. He found himself gasping for breath, his sight becoming fuzzy. He felt a hard smack to his face. A sharp intake of breath later, and he found himself calming a little, coming back around.
"Son…" Rey and Finn were standing just a few steps away, looking very worried.
"How dare she… How dare she bring THAT to my home!" Poe gasped, weakly. The man who had tortured both himself and Rey. Who had acted as an oppressor to Finn. And his father, who was all alone here. Now that monster knew where his father lived.
"Someone had to take him in, son. You know that." Poe shook his head back and forth, and not for the first time, he felt the pain that had ripped through all his nerve endings; the memory of Kylo Ren' torture.
"I don't want him here!" Poe yelled, suddenly bleary eyed. Finn and Rey made to come forward, by Kes waved them away.
"Come on son. Let's get you back to bed. I think you've got a bit of talking to do." Poe felt his father hoisting him up, putting his arm around his shoulders. "You know you need to talk to someone about these things." Kes said gently, guiding Poe back to his room. Poe simply stared ahead of him numbly. That creature had tortured him, been inside his head, and nearly killed him. He had a list of offences against Poe that were just racking up over time, each more horrible than the last. His father sat him down on his bed, and waited patiently, for Poe to begin speaking. Bless his father. He had always been a great dad. After a long silence, Poe launched into his story.