Chapter 11

"Okay, say again? What is this squiggly crap?"

Rose exhaled, trying not to roll her eyes. "It's an encrypted file from the Vulture. The First Order tried destroying it when they almost suicided on Takodana, then bombed us."

"Exactly," Finn added, "Whatever this is, they want it bad enough to sacrifice their own dreadnoughts."

Poe nodded, "But we can't read it and they can?"

"Yeah. They have the correct code to decrypt it."

"And you want to give it back to them?"

"Yes," Finn declared firmly, setting his jaw. "In exchange for Rey."

Poe nodded, his face a frozen plate of expression. "Um, Finn, that's going to be a problem."

Rose's eyes flew to Finn as he leaned away. "What? What do you mean a problem?"

"We contacted the First Order almost immediately to acknowledge Rey's presence as a prisoner. They got back to us with word from Hux's office directly. I'll make the official announcement later, but there's been a change in leadership, bud."

"What do you mean, a change of leadership?" Rose asked frowning.

Poe turned to her, "Ren's out."

"What?" Finn and Rose exclaimed, nervous excitement fluttering through Rose's body.

"Apparently, he killed Snoke. Word wasn't much after that. But it's open season on the Knights of Ren, and a military dictatorship for the First Order systems."

Rose's heart sank. Military dictatorship? What would that mean for their poor territories?

"What does this mean for Rey?" Finn pressed.

"First Order had no record of Rey," Poe told him softly. "No record of any Resistance prisoners. For someone like Rey, they would flash it across the galaxy, even her execution if they had one. That's good though!" He added quickly, seeing Finn begin to squirm with panic, "They would give us word that she had been killed. No news is good news regarding Rey."

"But she's still out there!" Finn told him. "Shake the tree, tell them what we've got in exchange for Rey's life!" He shook the info stick in front of him.

"Finn, buddy, you have to trust me here," Poe told him, closing his hands around Finn's. "Rey is a survivor. She got away from Ren and the First Order many times before. She's out there, and she's going to make her way home. We just got to be ready for when she comes, alright?"

Finn inhaled deeply, then nodded. "Fine," He said stiffly, reclaiming his hands.

"Please don't do anything crazy," Poe asked, looking at Finn as though the moment he blinked, he was going to swan dive out of the Rising Dawn in hope of finding Rey.

Finn simply looked at him, then walked away.

Poe looked to Rose, "He's going to do something crazy."

"Like what?" Rose asked, "It's not like he knows where she is."

"Trust me, stupid doesn't have to make sense. It just has to be done."

Rose nodded, then headed down the corridor where Finn had gone. Aside from stressed out pilots and other members of the Resistance, she couldn't find him. She sighed, then headed down towards the bowels of the ship, encountering less and less people as she descended. She didn't bother asking them if they'd seen Finn, she knew where he would be if he was, indeed, down here.

"Finn?" She called, reaching the escape pod bay.

There was a clang! Followed by an, "Ow!" Before his face came into full view, from out of one of the escape pods. "He-hey, Rose."

"Going to trade the info stick for Rey's life, or were you just inspecting the pod again?"

Finn froze, his face the first of his body to move. "I just need to know she's safe, okay?"

"Rey frequently faces down the First Order single-handed and you're worried about her? You're thinking of serving yourself up on a silver platter with a piece of metal that you can't even read." She shook her head, her chest tightening at the thought.

"Ren was gunning for her," Finn insisted, "You think he'll change his mind because he's out of favor with the First Order?"

Rose swallowed, looking away. "What is your deal with her?" She looked back to him. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"What? Rey? No! Why do you ask? Has Poe said something? Has Rey… said something? About me? I mean, before she was, you know…"

Rose's throat stabbed at her eyes. "You can't see it, can you?" She breathed.

Finn shook his head, frowning. "See… what?"

"Rey. Her feelings for you. You can't see what they are, can you?"

Finn straightened, eyes widening. "Did she say something to you about me?"

"She says it all the time," Rose told him, her chest compressing almost unbearably. "She holds you for what? A minute, then backs away suddenly, doesn't touch you for the rest of the day. She smiles at you like a puppy that has learned a new trick. Her favorite crew hand, not a co-pilot." She inhaled, and added: "She's not into you, Finn. There's someone else and you're willing to kill yourself for someone who wouldn't do the same for you."

"She would do the same for me," Finn defended. "I know she would. And Rey would tell me if there was someone else in her life." He stepped out of the escape pod, "It's what friends do."

Rose watched him leave, her heart feeling like a pile of rice in a shattered bowl. He was completely smitten with Rey, and why shouldn't he? She was gifted when it came to fixing things and piloting ships, proving this to Rose on numerous occasions without even thinking. Rey just did whatever popped into her mind. And she was captain of the Millennium Falcon for crying out loud! But she had her secrets, especially when it came to the Force.

Rose snorted, "Yeah, she'd tell you," She said aloud to the pipes overhead. "It would be just like Rey to show up with Kylo Ren as her boyfriend, let alone prisoner."

SWSWSW

It was an actual bed. Rey had had nice bunks, and of course the occasional comfy spot on a hard bench, but this was a designated bed. It was a big one, too. Big enough so that she could flop to one side, then to the other and probably get tired doing it. Her excitement, however, diminished when a tall figure dressed only in trousers and jacket stepped into the corner of her eye.

"Um," He muttered, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Rey.

"We…we're supposed to share this…?" She lifted her hand and gestured to the bed.

Silence answered, and Rey could swear the same butterflies that attacked her innards were jumping out of her and crashing into him just as frequently. Ben inhaled, then leaned over, and took the fluffy gray and black fur comforter off the mattress, and straightened. He made a motion to turn to her, but didn't. "Good night, Rey."

Wordless, she felt him cross the floor of the suite and settle down on the sofa behind her. She nodded, the butterflies still attacking her at every angle. She looked down at her gown, realizing that Serotti was the one to fasten her into it and Rey hadn't paid much attention to how she did it.

"Um, Ben?"

"You have no idea how to get out of that thing?"

"Not a clue."

"Want me to get Serotti?"

"No!" Rey nearly shouted. "No, I-I think I can manage."

She had barely begun tugging at the skirt when she heard the sofa creak, and felt his hands on her back.

"I don't blame you," He whispered in her ear, the chains on her back tickling her skin. "Serotti can be one mean bitch."

"You knew her?" Rey asked, latching on to the front of the gown over her breasts as the back came loose.

"A bit." He answered, "I know Fraja more. Serotti must have become his apprentice after I left to be with Snoke full time. I could tell by the way she interacted with you. She's not one to be trifled with."

His fingers caressed her back in a single, slow line, down her flesh, sending shivers over her body, but he stepped away. From over her shoulder, he lifted a light, black garment that looked like a nightgown for her to take, his own face turned away. She took it, feeling him step away from her, knowing, just knowing, that he had given her his back.

"What happened?" Rey asked, "How did the Knights of Ren form?" She let the gown descend around her calves, and stepped out of it.

The atmosphere in the room surged with unspoken electricity, but Ben's voice was calm and soothed Rey as she fumbled with the nightgown.

"It started with Ren of Dagobah. He was an unusual kid from the start, but strong with the Force. Luke was nervous about him from the moment he walked up to the temple. No one knew where it was, you see? Luke would go out and find students from his meditations and dreams, then bring them to the temple. And Dagobah, that was the system where Luke trained with Master Yoda, and he never saw another living being there."

Rey could have cursed Serotti! The nightgown went over her head and fastened around her neck like a poncho, but left her shoulders open, and the fabric was transparent. So transparent that when she pressed it against her breasts to check their transparency, she could clearly see them!

"You alright?" Ben asked, bringing Rey's head around to look at him. He had only turned his head minutely, giving her his ear rather than his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm okay. So, Dagobah?"

"Yes." Ben turned back away from her, "He lasted only a week, but he brought the six of us together. We were constantly battling each other, trying to outdo one another. But him. He united us."

"Why did he only last a week?" Rey asked, seeing a chest near her and opening it, hoping for more clothes. It was only undergarments, but she grabbed a long, white underskirt and shoved her legs into it, pulling it up over her breasts and fixing the transparent nightmare over it.

"Ren of Dagobah was a corpse and had started to decay."

Rey nearly slammed the lid of the chest shut, "What? A corpse?"

Ben nodded, his long hair bobbing. "Snoke animated him through the Dark Side of the Force. It was impressive, to say the least. But, frightening. Snoke used Ren of Dagobah to give insight to the voice I had heard all my life. It was his voice, Snoke's I mean. He was always there to comfort me, challenge me to show my strength.

"Luke cut through Ren like a blade of grass, but his impression remained. When Luke tried to kill me, my brothers came to my aid. Snoke's voice guided me to a place filled with weapons, including my crossblade that Luke had me throw away because the crystal was too stressed. In a day, we had masks. I thought Luke was dead, hoped for it, but the Force told me otherwise. He was just unconscious, buried in the hut along with my innocence. We were grateful for his absence, though. We cut through the temple like it was nothing, killing anyone who wouldn't join us. We were the only ones left." He lifted his head and his voice shook when he breathed, "We killed them all."

"Then you went to Maz Kanata's," Rey told him, absorbing the sight of his back and feeling the Force. He was disgusted with himself. "You left your first lightsaber there."

He snorted, turning his head slightly to tell her over his shoulder, "I let the past go."

"And called yourselves the Knights of Ren?"

"Yes."

"And changed your names?"

Ben chuckled, "Yes. Well, I did and they followed me."

Rey couldn't help but smile. "Why?"

"Because 'Ben Ren' sounded incredibly stupid."

Rey laughed, then crossed the floor and touched his shoulder, turning him around. "I prefer Ben Solo."

His eyes glittered, and he swallowed. "Sometimes I miss him," He whispered. "I feel him, in the quiet moments. When I can think alone."

Rey shivered, the question of who exactly "him" was weighing heavy on her shoulders. "Why did you kill your father?" She breathed. "You loved him, I know you did. You waited for him as a boy, then on Takodana. Why did you kill him?"

Ben parted his lips, "Because Snoke told me to. He said it would complete my journey to the Dark Side. Fulfill my training." He shook his head slightly, "No, it didn't. It made my mother a widow and split my soul apart."

Rey stared at him, the truth she had felt for so long echoing in the stillness. "You gave everything to Snoke, didn't you?"

He reached up and stroked her cheek with the back of his forefinger, tracing her jawline. She let him, lost in his chocolate brown eyes. "Everything, except you."

"Why?"

He smirked, the one he gave only to her. "I don't know."

She could tell he was lying.

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