AN: I don't own Star Wars, as you know. This was written for a friend who headcanons that Ben and Poe were childhood friends.

"Conquering Fear"

By EsmeAmelia

"You can't be serious," said Poe.

Thirteen-year-old Poe was spending the night with eleven-year-old Ben. Leia and Han were at a senatorial dinner and wouldn't be home until late that night, meaning that the boys had access to the Solo family's entire collection of holofilms, even those that were considered too frightening or too mature for kids their age.

It was one such holofilm that Ben was holding up now, from his mother's collection of horror holos. According to the case, it was about a mysterious killer who slashed random victims to death with a vibroblade. He never spoke or made any sound, meaning that his victims didn't hear him coming until he struck.

"Don't those kinds of holos give you nightmares?" Poe asked.

"That's exactly why I wanna watch it," said Ben. "If I can handle this, then maybe . . ."

Poe frowned as his friend trailed off. "You still having those nightmares?"

Ben said nothing, but his silence answered the question for him.

"Don't your mom and dad still let you get into bed with them when you have one?" Poe pressed.

"Yeah, but I'm not a little kid anymore," said Ben. "It feels weird to want to sleep with them now, and . . ." He cut himself off, not wanting to accidentally tell Poe about how the voice in his mind said he was too old to rely on his parents after nightmares, that getting into bed with his parents was something babies did. Even though he knew Poe would never judge him for still sleeping with his parents at age eleven, the voice certainly would. "Look, if I'm strong enough to handle this holo, maybe I'm also strong enough to control the Force, then maybe Mom and Dad won't send me away to Uncle Luke."

Poe frowned, a wave of sadness flowing from him at the thought of his friend being sent away. "Okay," he said, "let's watch it."

. . .

The two boys relaxed on the sofa, a giant bowl of popcorn between them and each one holding a cola as the holofilm started. The lights were turned off, letting the holovid spread an eerie glow through the living room. Ben actually found himself getting excited. Sneaking a view at a horror holo with his best friend while his parents were away - it was something normal kids his age did.

Then the holo started with the silent killer as a child, maybe five or six years old, taking a vibroblade to his parents, and Ben frowned. "That's stupid," he said.

"What?" asked Poe.

"The kid killing his parents like that. It's like he was born evil."

Poe shrugged. "Yeah, I think he's supposed to be born evil."

"Well that's dumb!" said Ben. "No one's born evil. It's something people learn as they get older."

"Well, yeah," said Poe, "but it's a holo, not real life. We're supposed to be terrified of the guy cause he started killing people when he was a kid!"

Ben stuffed a handful of popcorn in his mouth, understanding Poe's point but still not liking it. "So the holo's sayin' that if someone's born evil, you should just give up on them."

"I don't know what the holo's sayin' yet. It just started."

Ben stuffed another handful of popcorn in his mouth, his stomach churning at the idea that someone could be born evil, but he said nothing more on the subject. The holo jumped ahead to several months later, when a woman found the parents' partially-decayed bodies buried in the wilderness and screamed at the sight.

"Ewww, bones!" Poe exclaimed, jumping back and grabbing Ben's arm. "I hate bones!"

"Why?" asked Ben, struggling not to grin. "They're just bones."

"They're disgusting," said Poe. "And creepy!"

"So that time I broke my arm when I was eight creeped you out?" Ben was starting to have real trouble restraining himself from grinning, especially since he was so used to himself being the fearful one and Poe being the brave one.

"Well, no," said Poe, letting go of Ben's arm and awkwardly running a hand through his own hair. "I mean, your arm was in a cast and . . . look, let's just watch the holo, okay?"

"Fine, fine."

Now the holo displayed an ominous message that the killer was never found before dissolving into "Twenty years later . . ."

"How come killers in horror holos never get caught by the police?" Poe said. "Seriously, if this kid was running wild for twenty years, how come he was never caught? Vibroblade murders aren't exactly subtle and he doesn't seem to have any contacts to help him get off-planet or make a fake ID or anything."

"My mom says you're s'posed to suspend disbelief with horror holos," said Ben. "Like, it's not about the story so much as the experience."

Now the holo was finally introducing its main character: a teenage Twi'lek girl who resented that she had to babysit her little brothers when her friends were going to sneak into a nightclub with fake IDs, though her best friend, a human girl her age, was agreeing to babysit with her instead of going with the others.

"Here's betting the killer will be at the nightclub," said Poe. "He'll slice all the friends to pieces cause the holo wants to teach that you shouldn't go clubbing when you're underage or something."

Sure enough, when the friends went to the nightclub, the holo seemed to be putting a lot of emphasis on how much they were drinking, zooming in on the alcohol whenever possible. The teenagers also did a lot of groping as they danced, causing Poe to remark, "Yup, they're definitely doomed."

The holo briefly cut to a scene of the Twi'lek and her friend playing games with the little brothers, perhaps meant to contrast their innocent activities with the other friends' naughtiness. Ben was beginning to feel like he was watching a children's holo about why you should be good . . . only with more death and blood.

Of course, once the scene cut back to the nightclub, there was the killer, now grown up and wearing a white mask, prowling around in the coatroom and still not making a sound.

"Oh, come on!" Poe exclaimed. "You're really telling me that the security cameras aren't catching that?"

"Maybe he disabled them," Ben said with a mouthful of popcorn. "I mean, it's possible."

"Or maybe the writers were just lazy," said Poe. "I mean, if he did disable the cameras, the holo could at least show him disabling the cameras!"

"Yeah, you're right."

The music was getting louder and faster every second as the holo cut from the killer to the friends having fun to the killer and back again. Ben found himself holding his breath. The killer was getting closer and closer to the dance floor where the friends were still completely oblivious.

Then the music reached an ear-piercing high note as the killer jumped out and sliced his first victim's throat.

And Poe screamed.

He screamed so loudly that it drowned out the screeching high-pitched music. For a moment Ben wondered if he was just mocking the holo, but no, a wave of fear shot out from him, piercing Ben's senses like the vibroblade the killer used. Ben quickly paused the holo and reached over to his friend.

"Poe, it's okay," he said, squeezing the older boy's shoulder. "We can stop."

Only then did Poe seem to realize what he was doing. He blinked rapidly as if waking from a dream, staring at Ben. "Why would we stop?"

"Because you're scared," Ben said matter-of-factly.

"What are you talking about? Why would I be scared of this dumb holo?"

"Well if you're not scared, then why did you just scream like the killer was out to get you?"

Poe had no answer. He merely folded his arms, sinking into the couch as if he wanted to curl up into a ball and hide.

Ben gave his friend's shoulder another squeeze, sending comfort through the Force. "Poe, it's okay. You're always tellin' me it's okay to be scared, right?"

Poe was silent.

"Hey," said Ben, giving a small grin, "you know what? My dad's scared of horror holos too."

That finally got Poe's attention. "What?"

"Yup," said Ben. "Sure, he won't admit it, but I can sense his fear when he and Mom watch these holos late at night." He snickered a little. "A couple of times I've snuck downstairs when they watch a horror holo and I've seen Dad pretending to be asleep so he's got an excuse to close his eyes during the scary parts."

Now there was a slight grin on Poe's face. "Really?"

"Yup," said Ben. "Then when they go to bed after the holo, I've heard him tell Mom that those horror holos are so boring that they put him straight to sleep. I think he knows he's not foolin' Mom one bit, but it's like they agree to the charade so Mom can watch her horror holos and Dad doesn't have to watch the scary parts."

Poe let out a giggle. "Okay, okay, that's hilarious . . . but Ben, you wanted to watch this to help conquer your fears. I don't wanna get in the way of that."

Ben shrugged. "Uncle Luke says there are some fears you gotta conquer, but there are others you don't have to conquer, and it's important to know the difference." He gave Poe the warmest smile he could muster. "I think horror holos are a fear you don't need to conquer if you don't want to." He patted Poe's shoulder. "So why don't we watch something else?"

"You sure? I mean, if you do get sent away to your uncle, I don't want it to be because we didn't watch this."

"I'm sure," said Ben, giving Poe a quick hug. "Now what do you wanna watch?"

"Hmmm, well I'm up for something with action. How about that one about the guy who looks for treasure on the planet full of ruins?"

Ben grinned. "That sounds perfect."

THE END