The Redemption of Ben Skywalker

by AngelofTartarus

Reylo AU. While the fight against Palpatine is over, the war is not finished. The First Order has regrouped and its generals have seized power in the absence of Kylo Ren and are continuing their mission to conquer the galaxy. Rey, Ben, Poe, and Finn must overcome their differences to defeat the First Order once and for all. Pairings: Reylo, Poe/Finn

6. Can I Trust You?

Chapter 6 – Can I Trust You?

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Ben moped as he counted and stacked plastic-wrapped bacta patches in a medical storage container. This had to be the most boring task on the base, but he counted his lucky stars that he'd been assigned this task on the day the skies had opened and unleashed a savage storm on the base. Ben glared at the torrential downpour outside the medical tent. The rain had started in the morning and had continued well into the afternoon. Rain droplets were coming down so hard that divots and puddles were forming slowly in the packed earth. Thunder rumbled every few minutes, signaling the storm wouldn't be stopping anytime soon.

Ben huffed as he chucked another set of bacta patches into the container and marked it off on a holopad. It'd been a week since he'd accidentally told the base of Rey's lineage and she hadn't spoken to him since. The fallout had already started. The news had spread like wildfire and even traveled to the other bases. The comms people had been forwarding hundreds of questions to Poe, and Ben had heard rumors circulating about Rey's loyalties.

Even the victorious return of the base's fighters from the battle at the Venjagga system hadn't quelled the gossip. The base wasn't exactly shunning Rey, but they behaved more cautiously and weren't as quick to interact with her as they had before. He did feel guilty about that. It hadn't been his secret to reveal, but he had done so to win points against that surly mechanic. He'd already apologized to Rey several times – almost choking on the words – but she'd brushed him off each time and shoved him from her mind when he tried to reach her through the dyad. Chewie said he'd done all he could and he needed to give her some space, but Ben didn't understand why. He'd apologized and he'd meant it. How come she was still so angry with him?

A gust of wind sent a spray of raindrops into the tent and drenched him from head to toe. Ben jumped up and howled as he stubbed his toe on the metal container. A healer working nearby flinched and went stiff at his exclamation. Ben felt a momentary intrusion as Ivin's mind brushed against his. The captain didn't try to manipulate his emotions and instead went to assure the frazzled healer there was nothing to worry about.

Ben walked to the other side of the large tent where the towels were stored and patted excess water off. Great. Now he had to spend the rest of the day in damp clothes. He hated rain.

He perked up as his ears caught wind of an approaching commotion. He looked out the secondary opening of the medical tent as three people came running by and splashed into a large puddle.

Rey let out an infectious laugh that turned high-pitched in happiness as Poe slid by her. He was flailing his arms desperately as he lost his footing and face-planted into the muddy grass. Finn chuckled boisterously as he helped Poe to his feet. The two clutched at each other, laughing as they tried to maintain their footing on the slippery ground. Rey jumped around them before tugging them into an impromptu dance. Joining hands, the three spun in a circle, chortling as the nonstop deluge continued. Finn lost his footing first and slammed into Poe. Rey barely managed to avoid getting tackled but was drenched anew as they landed in a puddle. As the two men untangled themselves from each other, Rey spread her arms out and turned her face up to the heavens. As she spun around, she opened her mouth to catch some water and swallow it. She giggled and smiled softly as raindrops landed on her skin.

Ben looked on in a jealous haze. He wanted to be able to make Rey laugh like that. Why were Poe and Finn able to do that when he could not? But as Ben shifted his gaze from the two men to Rey, the jealousy became muted. He'd never seen Rey be so carefree and happy before; all thoughts of the ever-present war with the First Order were out of her mind and she was simply living in the moment. Ben admired her as she spontaneously danced in the puddles. Maybe one day he could do that with her. He didn't like rain as much as she appeared to, but he'd give it an effort because it made her so happy.

Rey stopped spinning and opened her eyes and their gazes immediately collided. Ben realized he was projecting his emotions through the dyad and Rey had felt it. The smile dropped from her face as she saw he was watching; apprehension with a hint of confusion replaced the carefree smile. Self-hatred rose in Ben as he witnessed the change and he swiftly withdrew his mind.

A small ball of mud hit Rey in the shoulder, eliciting a startled squeak from her. She laughed as Finn lobbed another mudball at her and dove to the ground to make her own projectile. Ben saw Finn was more composed than before and their gazes met; he'd noticed the tension between them. Finn clearly made an effort to smile and laugh as he engaged Rey in a mud battle. He used Poe as a shield even as the other man objected. Rey pelted them with mud as Finn gathered some in his hands. Poe yelped in betrayal as Finn shoved the handful of mud down the back of his shirt. He joined Rey in throwing mud at Finn, his angry cries being undercut by laughter. Under siege, Finn chose to make a tactical retreat and ran, heartily laughing as the other two gave chase. The trio disappeared into the sea of tents and Ben mourned their absence. Rey's high, boisterous laughs sounded over the rain plodding onto the ground.

"They always do that when it rains."

Ben twitched as Captain Ivin stepped up next to him.

"Everyone else takes cover but those three love to run through the puddles no matter how hard the downpour is."

"I can see the appeal," Ben shrugged. "But I'm not going to make a fool of myself by jumping in puddles like a madman."

"You might like it enough to not care what anyone else thinks of you," Ivin said with a twinkle in his eye. "How do you know until you try it?"

"Well, I do care," Ben said. He wasn't about to set the base's tongues wagging by acting like a maniac. He had a reputation to uphold.

"There are some things you can make an exception for," Ivin said with a hint of a smile. He waved Ben to follow him back to the storage cases. "Come on. Let's finish these boxes and then go get some sleep. We all need to be up before daybreak. You have food serving duties tomorrow."

"Great," Ben muttered sarcastically under his breath.

He lacked the touch to rehydrate food just right. All his previous attempts had ended up fried to a crisp or waterlogged beyond recognition. It was edible, so he'd learned to live with it. If the Resistance fighters didn't hate him now, they would by tomorrow.

-oOoOoOo-

"Ben, wake up!"

Ben groaned and turned away from the annoying voice penetrating his sleep bubble. He was tired. They should leave him alone.

"We're going to be late!"

Something poked him in the back, prodding him into full consciousness. Ben struck out and the thing snapped with a sickening crack. He glared blearily at the person. Their silhouette was barely visible in the dark tent since the sun hadn't risen yet. As Ben's vision adjusted, he saw Aarzio glaring down at him with a broken tree branch in his hand.

"Come on, buddy. Get dressed. We're due at the canteen in five minutes," Aarzio pressed him as he threw the mangled branch out of the tent. "Didn't your alarm go off?"

Ben looked at the timepiece on his wrist. Aarzio had given it to him a few days ago to keep track of the time; it also had an alternate use as an alarm clock. It glowed orange, showing it had activated at the correct time. He must have been so deeply asleep that the vibrations hadn't woken him up.

"It didn't wake me up," Ben said as he pushed himself into a standing position. He took in a deep steadying breath as his eyesight pixelated into yellow dots for several seconds. He rubbed his eyes to restore his vision.

"No time to lose," Aarzio urged as he stepped out of the tent. "Tawna isn't going to be happy. We have less than three minutes to get to the canteen."

"I'm coming," Ben grumbled unhappily as he folded his blanket and set it neatly on his sleeping mat. His bones ached today for some reason; it hurt just to move around.

He ran his fingers through his sleep-tousled hair, absently noticing it was starting to grow out again. He stumbled out of his small tent, hitting his head on the supporting posts as he did. His head pounded as a bump started to form. This was not how he'd wanted to start the day.

The rain had stopped sometime in the night, but the air was almost unbearably chilly. Ben shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around him. They squelched through the base, the muddy, waterlogged ground making it hard to walk. At the canteen, Tawna was already busy directing droids where to place the food prep machines. She glanced at her timepiece as they walked up.

"Sorry we're late, Tawna," Aarzio said with a dazzling smile. "We had a late night."

"It's alright," Tawna nodded and gave a hesitant smile to Ben. "You can collect the food rations for preparation while I finish setting up the rehydrator."

Ben nodded and went to the containers set on the tabletops. He wasn't in the mood to complain. The bump on his skull was indeed contributing to a splitting headache.

"I can't believe it," Aarzio griped. "She likes you more than me. And I've been here longer!"

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked as he took the lid off the first box. Looks like they were having reconstituted bread rolls and mushy porridge for first meal again.

"She was all… smiley," Aarzio glanced back. "I think she has the hots for you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Ben scoffed in dismissal. The thought that anyone besides Rey being romantically interested in him was absurd. It'd been hard enough overcoming their bad start and for Rey to come to terms with his history.

"My eyesight is as good as ever," Aarzio shrugged.

Ben looked back over to Tawna. The blonde woman was starting up the food rehydrator with practiced moves. She blushed as their eyes met, but beamed and waved at him. Ben turned around quickly. Shit, Aarzio was right.

"I didn't do anything to encourage her," Ben tried to think how this could have happened. He couldn't remember sending any signals of interest to Tawna.

"It wouldn't be the first time different species' mating customs caused a miscommunication," Aarzio picked up a crate of bread rolls. "Whatever the case, I think Tawna would be good for you."

"I'm not interested in her," Ben snapped back as he hefted a crate of shrunken bread rolls into his arms. He inhaled sharply as it almost slipped from his tingling fingers. What was wrong with him today? Why was he so fatigued?

"Well, if you ask me, it's time you started looking elsewhere," Aarzio said. "Rey isn't going to forgive you for revealing her secret."

The reality of that settled over Ben like a heavy, smothering blanket. Rey hated him for telling everyone she was a Palpatine. That wasn't something she would readily absolve him of. Perhaps he should-

Ben shook himself out of that spiraling train of thought. No, they'd had worse spats in the past and recovered. Ben vowed he would do better. He just needed to stop acting impulsively.

"No, we can get past this," Ben said with certainty. "I know we can."

Aarzio sighed. "I hope so too, buddy."

They set the crates next to the food rehydrator. Ben balefully eyed the machine.

"Do you know how to operate it?" Aarzio asked him.

"Of course I do!" Ben snapped at him. "I know how to pilot dozens of types of starships, create lightsabers from scratch, and command battle cruisers. I think I can operate a kriffing rehydrator!"

Aarzio raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Whatever you say, man."

Ben turned his attention back to the food rehydrator as Aarzio walked back to the other table. The machine was a head shorter than him and looked like it'd been created decades ago when his parents had been blowing up the second Death Star. How the fuck was this decrepit piece of machinery supposed to rehydrate anything?

"Just pop the bread rolls in one by one and the machine will do the rest," Tawna broke the silence.

She helpfully demonstrated this by tearing open one of the packets and stepping onto a footstool to drop a small roll into the top of the machine. The food rehydrator hummed as it reconstituted the food. There was a small thud as a hot bread roll tumbled into the heated basket below the machine. Ben nodded to himself. He could do that. It was extremely inefficient, but it worked.

He put dried bread rolls through the machine as Tawna explained the controls to him. There were a bunch of knobs that regulated temperature, humidity, and contaminant control levels. Ben was only half-listening. The Jixiti was pressing her body against his arms while explaining the machine and he could sense a possessive vibe coming from her. He tried to evade her touch without being too obvious about it. He liked the little Jixiti and didn't want to offend her, but he wasn't interested in her that way. Luckily, she left after giving him a tutorial on the food rehydrator.

Ben tore open packet after packet and the basket slowly filled up with freshly made rolls. Around the tenth packet, everything went wrong. He put in the last roll and the rehydrator shook and made a grinding noise. An acrid scent permeated the air and a blackened lump dropped into the basket and scattered black and gray flakes on the nearest rolls.

"Fuck," Ben pulled the fried, uneatable roll out of the basket. He hissed as the lump of carbon burned his hands, but he managed to hold on long enough to dump it in an empty plastic packet.

"What happened?" Tawna asked as she hurried over. Ben shifted under her piercing green gaze.

"I didn't touch anything," Ben defended himself. He gestured to the knobs, which were still turned to the correct settings. There was no reason why the machine failed so suddenly besides old age.

"Did you watch the indicator and add in more water when it dropped low?" Tawna bent down and tapped a gauge on the food rehydrator. The needle was hovering dangerously near the bottom of the red zone. She nodded. "That's the problem. It's out of water."

She grabbed two jugs of water from the long line of tables and filled a tank connected to the machine. The rehydrator stopped shaking and settled.

"I thought I put enough water in it," Tawna shrugged. "I'll be sure to put more in next time."

Ben relaxed. It hadn't been his fault, not really.

Tawna brushed the charcoal dust off of the most recently made rolls and tore open a new package. She gave it to him to hold while she put the rolls into the machine. Tawna seemed fine with the silence, but Ben just felt awkward standing there and saying nothing. His gaze landed on the end of the table where several water jugs were, a few set apart from the rest. He'd noticed the food servers did that for every meal but hadn't cared enough until now to voice a question about it.

"Why do you separate the water jugs?"

"We filter water for the children," Tawna gestured to the smaller jug collection. "Their immune systems can't cope with the minor contaminants in the water, so we treat the water before we give it to them. I also use it for rehydrating food."

"What kind of contaminants?" Ben narrowed his eyes. Just what had he been ingesting?

"Nothing major. Just the standard microbes that exist on a jungle planet," Tawna waved away his concerns as she popped the last of the shrunken bread rolls into the rehydrator. "We like to take extra precautions for the children."

She tugged him by his sleeve over to Aarzio to help him stir the packets of white powder into the goop which they called porridge. Tawna chose to sit next to Ben and was much too close for his comfort. She made a half-clicking, half-purring noise as they worked. Ben's nose twitched as he suddenly scented a sweet aroma in the air. Hell, she was emitting pheromones.

"You have a child, right?" Ben grasped for a conversation topic, anything to derail her.

"Yes, Ava," Tawna preened happily as she folded more powder into her pot to make the mixture thicker. "She's a rambunctious little girl, but she's the light of my life. You'd like her."

Ben hummed noncommittally but was inwardly panicking.

"Have you ever thought about having children?" Tawna leaned in close; her green eyes were unnaturally bright from this angle.

"No," Ben said shortly and jumped up. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He did not mean for the conversation to go down that path.

He high-tailed it to the serving table and dumped his half-full pot of porridge into the larger serving pot. An image came unbidden to his mind, a young child with fluffy, raven-black hair and beautiful hazel eyes. Would this be what his and Rey's child would look like? Ben huffed and shook his head to dispel the fantasy. He wasn't meant to be a father. He would just fuck up like all the men in his family had.

"If I'd known the traitor would be serving breakfast, I would have slept in."

Ben turned to see Winn Bris had snuck up behind him. He narrowed his eyes at the shorter man.

"You can eat it or starve," Ben shot back, not missing a beat. "I don't give a fuck which."

"I'd rather starve than be poisoned," Winn cast a dismissive glance at the basket of bread rolls and the massive, simmering pot of porridge.

Ben tightened his hand on the spoon still in his grasp and fought the urge to jam it into Winn's neck. It was a blunt instrument, but the metal utensil would get the job done all the same.

"Are you going to get something or not, Winn?" Sertali made a fortuitous appearance. She nudged the pilot towards the pile of bowls. "You're blocking traffic."

Ben saw to his surprise there were already people filing into the canteen, ready to start the day. Winn sighed and grabbed a bowl and held it out; he raised an eyebrow as Ben didn't move.

Ben glared at the man, daring him to voice a command to fill the bowl with porridge. He'd sooner snog a nexu than serve food to this asshole. The atmosphere became charged as neither backed down. People started grumbling as the line wasn't moving forward.

"Here you go," Tawna said brightly, spooning smooth porridge into Winn's bowl from an overfilled mixing pot she was holding. She dropped a steaming bread roll on top and beamed brightly, showing off her teeth. "Have a nice day!"

Winn smirked. "I definitely will, Tawna." He moved down the line of tables to grab a cup of water.

"Fucking asshole," Tawna venomously growled under her breath. "If he wasn't such a good fighter pilot, I'd eat him."

"Nah, he's too skinny. And all that negativity concentrated in one body would make him taste awful," Sertali disagreed after examining the man in question. "You'd best set your eyes on someone with more meat on their bones. Like Ben." Sertali waggled her whiskers at him and winked.

"Don't give her any ideas," Ben huffed in amusement.

"I already have my eye on him," Tawna sidled up to Ben possessively and glared at the Selonian. She served the woman breakfast with jerky motions aimed to get her quickly through the line.

Ben shifted uncomfortably. The Jixiti was trying to stake a claim on him. What he wouldn't give to have his abilities back so he could use the Force to make everyone give him a six-foot radius of personal space.

"I can see that," Sertali gave him and Tawna a quizzical look, but Ben had no answers for her. "I'll see you guys later."

Sertali moved to a table and Tawna relaxed her territorial stance. The tiny female smiled charmingly up to him.

"I can take over serving breakfast. Why don't you go help Aarzio mix up some more porridge?" Tawna suggested.

Ben gratefully took the option to escape. He went back to the prep table where Aarzio was making a mess of things. White powder was embedded into the table's wooden grains, which would be a pain to remove.

"Some help you are," Ben grumbled as he grabbed a new mixing pot and haphazardly tossed an indeterminate amount of powder and water into it. "Aren't you supposed to be my bodyguard?"

"I prefer 'friend who goes everywhere you do'," Aarzio said, forming air quotes with powder-streaked fingers. "You were handling Winn just fine. And I saw Sertali coming up. Have you decided how to deal with Tawna yet?"

"That's my business," Ben stirred several gallons of goop into a lumpy mess.

To be honest, he didn't know what he was going to do. Ignoring her advances and trusting she would see that and back off probably was the best way to go. Any confrontation was sure to end with tears or shouting. His headache had tapered off and he didn't want to bring it back.

When he'd made a sizeable amount of porridge, Ben stood to take it to Tawna. The world wobbled and Ben set the pot down with a loud clank. He took in deep breaths steady himself and then started coughing as some powder flew into his throat. His eyes watered as he tried to hack up his lungs. Something was pressed into his hands and Ben opened his eyes to see a cup of water. He guzzled it down gratefully and his throat cleared, leaving him feeling like he'd gargled some razor blades.

"Are you alright, Ben?" Aarzio asked worriedly as he guided Ben back to the bench. His hands hovered over Ben as if he were unsure where to place them.

"I'm fine," Ben brushed off his concerns. "Give me another pot."

"Tawna says we're good on porridge," Aarzio shook his head. "She's directed us to prep for the next meal after we eat something." He handed Ben a reconstituted bread roll.

Ben bit through the hardening outer shell to chew off a large piece. It tasted even blander than usual. A gentle breeze wafted through the canteen and Ben shivered as it passed over him. Goosebumps formed on the back of his neck and he zipped his jacket up to his neck. He missed his cape.

"Are you cold?" Aarzio laughed incredulously, giving Ben a strange look.

"A little," Ben muttered and stuffed the rest of the roll in his mouth. He chewed quickly and dryly swallowed the bread. His throat blazed as if on fire, so he sipped water to quell it.

"It'll get warmer. It always does after a rainstorm," Aarzio shrugged as he chugged down his porridge.

He stood and tossed his bowl towards the clean-up area; it traveled in a perfect arc and landed with a splash in a soapy bucket of cleaning fluid. A droid beeped as it got to work washing it.

Aarzio grunted as he hefted a large metal container onto the table. He opened the lid and hundreds of vacuum-packed packages spilled onto the table.

"Kriff, they didn't sort it," Aarzio said with a long-suffering sigh. He sat with slumped shoulders and started separating the packages into groups.

Ben copied him. His irritation levels rose as they worked. The labels were extremely small and the printed writing was in shortened Aurebesh. Whoever had done the labels was a fool. Three of the items went by similar names so the labels only differed by one character. More than once, Ben had to close his eyes and take a breath to regain some patience. If he ever had the chance to visit – he checked the label – Sasksakor Food Distribution, he was going to give them a piece of his mind. This was utterly ridiculous!

Ben spent the next couple of hours painstakingly sorting the packages with Aarzio. Around them, the Resistance people ate their meals and conversed with one another. Some of risen early and others had filed in later to eat. The sun rose into the sky and spread its warmth, turning the air humid and muggy. Ben started to sweat, so he took off his jacket and put it on the bench.

Around mid-morning, a Twi'lek and a gaggle of eight children were the last to come to the canteen for breakfast. The Twi'lek herded the children to the food station and patiently waited for them to quiet down before he directed them to tell Tawna what they wanted. None of them wanted porridge and the bread rolls had run out, so Tawna had to make a fresh batch for them. The children scarfed down the food and then chased each other around the canteen. They yelled and shouted in excitement as they played a game of starfighters. Ben rubbed his temple as a sharp pain grew. His headache was coming back with a vengeance; it felt as if tiny needles were being shoved into his skull.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Aarzio stopped sorting packets to stare at him. "You look a little flushed."

Ben glared at the guard. He was fine, damn it! He just wasn't used to working under a hot sun all day yet. The headache would pass and he would adapt and be back to normal in no time. He wasn't about to slack off his duties and give Poe the satisfaction of booting him off the base. Ben wiped away the sweat beading on his forehead and drank some water before continuing to sort packets.

Thankfully, the children didn't stay long. The Twi'lek called to them after twenty minutes and herded all eight exuberant children out of the canteen. One blonde little girl escaped the group and bounded up to Tawna to give the Jixiti a kiss on the cheek before rejoining the group. Finally, peace and quiet; only the wind and natural wildlife sounds filled the air. Aarzio went to grab some water as Tawna skipped over and slid onto the bench.

"That was my daughter," she said winningly.

"She seems… delightful," Ben tried to compliment her progeny. He aimed to keep his voice level, but the pain in his temple was making it difficult. His nose twitched as she started emitting pheromones again.

"You should meet her before we spend more time together," Tawna suggested as she swept the sorted packages into different boxes. "We are compatible, but that doesn't always extend to children."

"What?" Ben blinked as her words registered.

"I want to make sure Ava likes you before I enter my last cycle," Tawna explained as she rested one hand atop his clenched fist. "Don't worry. You are the perfect mate for me."

Ben's heart rate jumped into hyperdrive and he wrenched his hand from her grasp. The bench carved lines into the wet grass as he stood up suddenly.

"I don't know when or how you got the impression I wanted to be your mate, but my answer is no," he said forcefully. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"But…" Tawna's forehead crinkled and her mouth formed a straight line. "But we're compatible. My alter likes you."

"I can't, Tawna," Ben went to the other side of the table. He could sense her distress growing and it grated against his mind painfully.

"You protected me from Anzen when I came forward with evidence against him for that horrid latrine incident. You know how to handle a Jixiti in their alter form," Tawna pressed him. Tears welled in her eyes. "If you did not intend to start a mateship, then why-"

"I didn't realize," Ben cut in. Sith hells, don't let her cry. "My knowledge of Jixiti customs is not up to date."

"Oh… I understand," Tawna nodded slowly. She straightened and pinned him with a stern gaze. "But the point still stands. I need a mate and you are available."

"No, I'm not!" Ben shouted as his emotions boiled over and exploded out. Why was everyone assuming his relationship with Rey was terminated? "I'm not available! And even if I were, I wouldn't be with you! I'm not interested in you that way and I never will be! I don't want to meet your daughter and I don't want to mate with you!"

Ben huffed as he tried to get air into his lungs. Between his frustration at this turn of events and the cloying scents Tawna was throwing into the air, it was getting exceedingly difficult to breathe. Aarzio was giving them space, but he was sending them side glances and his hand hovered over his blaster as the conversation became heated.

Tawna's lip quivered and a pit formed in Ben's stomach as he feared she would start crying. He hadn't meant his rejection to come out so harsh, but he couldn't let her go on thinking they were going to be mates. The faint outline of scales on Tawna's skin became more pronounced and took on a green tinge. She took in a deep breath and raised her head proudly.

"I suppose I should have known better. All you needed to say was you weren't interested in a relationship," She said in an icy tone. Her green eyes glowed dangerously and Ben thought he saw a hint of her alter in them. "The gel packs in the food processors need to be replaced." She stiffly walked away with two containers filled with packages of dried noodles and some sort of bean.

Ben swallowed heavily and winced as the movement irritated his throat. He drained another cup of water as a heavy blanket of guilt settled on him. With minimal effort, he shoved the emotion down deep to ignore it; he'd always been good at that. Aarzio joined him and silently passed him a hydrospanner set. The guard didn't say a word but did give him a concerned look as he pointed him to the machines needing repairs.

Ben ignored him and began replacing the gel packs for the dozen food processing machines. It was grungy work and some of the old gel packs exploded upon contact and stained his shirt. The tune-up took time, but he was able to get four machines refurbished in time for the mid-day meal. Tawna didn't spare him a glance when he informed her which machines could be used. She gave him the cold shoulder as she wheeled the food processors to the prep table to make the meals. His headache returned and became a constant pounding as he worked to repair the other machines. He took a break to eat something, but he was only able to stomach a few mouthfuls of the noodle dish.

Ben was exhausted by the time the work was done. The sun had started to set and an evening chill had set in. Ben put his jacket back on, but it didn't help. His teeth chattered as the cold settled in his bones. He wanted to go find something warmer to wear, but there was no time as Tawna and Aarzio needed him to watch over the meat they were cooking for dinner. Tawna again gave him the cold shoulder and Aarzio looked at him with pity as he went to help her make the root vegetables edible.

Ben yawned as a wave of fatigue washed over him. He was unbelievably exhausted, which was unusual for him. The tongs he was using to turn the meat became slack in his hands. He closed his eyes to rest for a moment.

"Ben!"

His eyes snapped open and his nose crinkled in distaste at the acrid scent assaulting it. The meat was burning rapidly and several servings were on fire. Ben blinked his eyes rapidly to wake himself up. He raised the tongs and turned the meat servings over. A thick layer of black carbon was crusted on each one. While he debated how to rectify the situation, Tawna pushed him aside and turned off the heat.

"I can handle it," Ben insisted as the last vestiges of sleep left him. He moved his tongs to grab the meat which was aflame.

"No," Tawna growled impatiently. "Go away."

Ben slapped the tongs down on the table and stomped away. If that's what she wanted, then fine! He joined Aarzio at the bench and watched as Tawna tried to salvage the food. She frowned and hissed angrily to herself as she chopped the meat servings into chunks and threw away the burned parts.

"What's going on?" Aarzio leaned into his space and spoke in a hushed voice. "You're all over the place today."

"I'm fine," Ben snapped back. He angrily swiped a layer of sweat off his forehead. "Just tired."

Several pounds of chopped vegetable roots were set aside in a pot. A couple dozen more whole roots were waiting to be diced. Ben grabbed a knife to slice the rest of the whole roots into cubes. His efforts produced something geometric but definitely couldn't be called cubes.

"You said you were tired before," Aarzio tossed handfuls of perfectly cubed roots into the pot. "I'm not so sure anymore. You look terrible."

"Drop it, Aarzio," Ben ordered in his most superior-sounding voice and shot the guard a pointed stare guaranteed to make anyone quiver in their shoes. Aarzio raised an eyebrow, completely unimpressed.

"I really think-"

"We'll have to make a stew instead. I wasn't able to salvage enough for full meals," Tawna said irritably and made an annoyed clicking noise as she banged a bowl of meat chunks onto the table. "Quick, we don't have long until people get hungry."

"I'll grab the large serving pot," Ben muttered and made a quick getaway. He didn't fancy staying to continue being interrogated or get his head bitten off.

Ben found the pot where it had been stored earlier that morning. He hefted it over to the food prep area, almost panting from the effort. He put it on the lit burner and Tawna immediately began filling it with water, meat chunks, and the diced vegetable roots. She threw a large, metal ladle at him which nearly brained him.

"Stir, while I put everything in," she directed curtly. "Surely you can manage that without messing it up."

Ben didn't dignify that with a response as he started stirring the pot's contents. The surface of the liquid soon broke into a boil and scented curls rose into the air. He didn't see how this was a stew, but whatever herbs and spices Tawna was throwing into the pot made it smell great.

"Something smells good," Someone said appreciatively.

Ben startled and bumped the pot as Captain Ivin suddenly appeared and voiced his thoughts. Tawna yelped as the pot wobbled dangerously and threatened to tip. Ben clumsily shoved it back into the safe zone. Tawna hissed angrily and Ben stumbled backward as she shifted partway into her avian form and swiped at him with her sharp talons.

"Step. Away. From. The. Stew." Tawna growled the words rather than spoke them. Her beak clacked as she gave a warning snap. She turned her fury-filled eyes on Ivin. "Unless he's eating, I don't want to see him in my canteen. Tell Poe to refrain from putting him on any duty shifts with me."

"Surely he hasn't behaved that badly," Ivin laughed incredulously. He looked fully at Ben and his smile dropped and shocked concern took its place. "Ben, are you alright?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Ben wildly gestured around. "Nothing's wrong!"

"Mixa, promise me!" Tawna yelled as her green scales became more prominent.

"What happened?" Ivin asked seriously.

"He's incompetent at doing anything concerning food preparation," Tawna crossed her arms. Her alter faded away, but she looked no less irate. "I don't have the time to train a new person and even if I did, I wouldn't want to spend another second in his presence!"

"Okay, I'll talk with Poe," The captain assured her, but his forehead was still crinkled in confusion. He pulled Ben away from the table and gestured for Aarzio to join them. "What is going on?"

"Nothing," Ben said curtly. He shivered as another gust of wind blew through the canteen.

"Really? Because Tawna hates you. She likes everyone unless they give her a reason not to," Ivin raised his eyebrows. "And you look like you're seconds away from dropping unconscious."

"He's been like this all day, but he doesn't seem worse for wear," Aarzio assured the captain with a quick smile. "There's nothing to worry about."

"You should have contacted me," Ivin censured his subordinate. "Something isn't right."

"I feel like I've always felt," Ben corrected him, though that wasn't precisely true. "I'm just a little tired today."

Ivin shook his head. "This is something else. I think we should go to the med facilities and get you checked out."

Resistance fighters started coming into the canteen looking tired and hungry.

"We can go later," Ben insisted. No matter how much Tawna disliked him now, he couldn't leave her short-handed. And it would be a dark day before he let Poe see him shirking his assigned duties. Actually, now that he thought about it, he had yet to see the obstinate general today.

Ivin protested as he stepped away, but the captain didn't stop him. Ben walked to the table, intent on setting out the bowls. He shook his head to chase away his increasingly worsening headache and missed the foot that jutted into his path.

Ben tripped and slammed into the table. The pot of stew, the only food available, tipped and poured the scalding liquid over him and Tawna. Ben bit his tongue and grunted from the effort it took not to scream; the iron taste of blood filled his mouth. Caught by surprise, Tawna shrieked from the unexpected dousing and everyone nearby clutched their ears. The pot wobbled precariously on the edge and threatened to pour the rest of its contents on Tawna. Ben shoved it away before it could spill on the Jixiti. He misjudged how much force it would take and the pot skittered across the table and fell off the other side, landing upside-down with a thud.

Everyone gasped or stared in horror. Ben helped Tawna to her feet; both of them were covered in patchy red burns. Muffled laughter pierced the silence and Ben saw Winn and Jecob huddled together and desperately trying to keep smirks off their faces.

Ben saw red.

"Do you think this is funny?" he shouted at the immature assholes.

"The indestructible Kylo Ren tripping over his feet and slamming into a table?" Jecob asked. "Hell, yes."

Winn didn't smile, but there was a self-satisfied glint in his eye. Ben knew that he'd been the one to cook up this scheme.

"You tripped me!" Ben pointed an accusing finger at the pilot.

"Prove it," Winn dared him, a smirk finally rising to his lips.

Ben trembled with rage as he dug his fingernails into his palms. How dare these two hurt him and Tawna – in front of almost everyone at the base, no less – and deny it! Energy raced under his skin, sending power through every particle of his being. His connection with the Force raged into full being, the strongest it's been since the cuffs were put on him. He raised his hand at the men and inarticulately shouted his rage and frustration as he channeled the energy to do his bidding.

The satisfied half-smiles Winn and Jecob wore dissolved into expressions of pure terror. They shrieked and grappled at invisible fingers around their necks as they were lifted several feet into the air along with a few tables and benches. Resistance fighters screamed and panicked at his display of power. The ones who were still thinking logically drew their weapons and urged others to take cover.

But as quickly as the energy surge came, it flagged and Ben gasped as he saw yellow spots and lost control. Winn and Jecob crashed to the ground and dodged desperately to avoid being flattened by the descending tables and benches.

"Ben, on your knees," Ivin ordered, harshly gesturing with his blaster.

Ben blinked at him. The captain's words seemed to come at a distance. What did he want? The ground beneath his feet was unstable and his head was pounding in time with his increasing heartbeat. His stomach churned and twisted. He fell unwillingly to his knees and vomited up the contents of his stomach, which wasn't much. Ben tried to breathe, but his lungs weren't responding. His vision went fuzzy as he faceplanted into the stew and vomit-covered ground.

-oOoOoOo-

"It is not up for debate, Poe. You need to tell us who your source is, otherwise we can't use this intel!"

Rey sighed as Lando Calrissian made an impatient, sweeping gesture with his hands. The general's quick movement pixelated the hologram for a few seconds before it settled. The war meeting with the Resistance leadership across the three bases had started early that morning and had continued well into the evening. There was no sign of it ending anytime soon and people were getting cranky.

The meeting had started amiably. Poe had relayed the information they'd gained from the ZT-120 navigation droid they'd stolen from the Vartier. The star system maps filled with First Order occupied zones they hadn't known about were incredibly useful. They'd already planned joint attacks on several First Order strongholds that would hinder the organization's ability to provide weaponry to the front lines.

The problem had come when Poe had brought forward the information Ben had provided them about secret Dedlanite mining locations and the hyperspace communications nodes that were recently implemented to encrypt First Order comms frequencies. He couldn't reveal who they'd gotten the information from. Ben was an asset so long as the First Order thought him dead. They couldn't be sure their communications were one-hundred percent unhackable, so they couldn't even tell the secret to the other Resistance bases.

"It's a sensitive situation, General Calrissian," Poe repeated himself. "I made the choice to keep my source under wraps because it could mean the difference between winning and losing this war."

"I'm not going to send my people to occupy a mining site if I can't verify it comes from a trustworthy source." Wedge Antilles shook his head and crossed his arms.

Poe paused for a second too long. "You can trust me when I tell you it exists."

"My father makes a good point," A young man standing by Wedge's shoulder raised his hand. "There is no doubt that we trust everyone here, but we need to know this source is legitimate before we commit to an operation of this magnitude. We cannot afford to lose any more people."

"Indeed, we must share everything as we normally do," A stately woman nodded serenely. "You did not keep Rey's parentage from us-"

Rey winced as the topic was brought up again. She'd spent several grueling hours hashing that out with the Resistance leadership before the matter was settled. Chewbacca cut off the woman with a guttural roar.

"No, I do not doubt the girl's loyalty," The woman assured the irate Wookiee. "I am merely pointing out we heard about it as soon as it had come to light. Yet, your people have been surprisingly close-lipped about this source of yours, especially as I believe they reside at your base. What is it about this person that you cannot even tell us their name?"

"If we were meeting face-to-face, I would not hesitate to tell each and every one of you," Poe assured the array of frustrated Resistance leaders. "Our people are split between three bases for a reason: to prevent the events of D'Qar and Crait from happening again. We were nearly wiped from existence, so we took precautions. With that comes sacrifices that must be made. I cannot risk my source falling into First Order hands again. We must trust we are relaying accurate information to each other, now more than ever."

"Your source is a First Order defector?" A battle-scarred Twi'lek on Lando's hologram said accusingly.

"Yes," Rey confirmed. "I was present to verify the validity of their claims. The information they have provided thus far is accurate."

Silence greeted her statement. Even across several star systems, Rey could feel a faint sense of hesitation and distrust coming from the other leaders.

"This person isn't the first to defect and I know they won't be the last," Finn spoke up. "Or do you doubt my loyalties as well?" He pinned each hologram with a stern gaze.

Finn was such an integral part of the Resistance that some forgot he used to be a First Order stormtrooper not so long ago.

"It seems I will be making a trip to your base, Poe. We will put this matter to rest until then," Lando held up a hand to stymie the other leaders' protests. "Tell us about these hyperspace communication nodes. We will decide for ourselves whether this matter is worth pursuing."

Poe motioned Mosla forward to report on her findings. The comms commander and her unit were working around the clock to locate these nodes and determine how they worked. Their exhilaration upon actually finding one the day prior had almost choked Rey with its intensity.

Most of the technical jargon Mosla used went over Rey's head. As a mechanic and former scavenger, she knew her way around a comms system, but these nodes were on a whole new level.

Rey's stomach flipped without warning and she slapped a hand to her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting. Her throat burned as she swallowed down bile. Sweat beaded on her forehead as her head buzzed and became cloudy. She felt incredibly warm yet horribly cold at the same time.

"Rey, are you alright?" Finn murmured as he steadied her.

Poe looked at her with concern. He quietly made his way over and moved them a few steps out of range of the holocam.

"I'm fine," Rey smiled at them. She'd been fighting a dizzy spell all day. She'd thought it'd been because of dehydration or listening to nonstop arguments, but perhaps not.

Indistinct shouts and screams sounded outside the tent. One of the guards on duty poked her head in and gestured to them. Poe caught Rose's eye and gestured to her to take over for him. She nodded and stepped into the center of the holocam range with Mosla and Chewbacca.

The trio stepped out of the tent and was met with the sight of a panicked Resistance fighter trying to catch his breath.

"Jorlou, what is it?" Poe asked.

"It's… it's Ben," Jorlou's purple eyes were large with terror. "He's attacking us!"

"What?" Rey gasped. He wouldn't. He'd been doing so well.

"He has his powers back!" Jorlou gasped. "You need to stop him!"

"That's… that's impossible," Poe shook his head in disbelief. "The cuffs-"

"He lifted Winn and Jecob into the air," Jorlou insisted. "I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Come on," Rey urged.

She ran for the canteen with Poe and Finn on her heels. They got as far as the medical tent because a group of frazzled people was congregated there. They turned as the trio ran by and immediately converged on them.

"You have to do something!"

"You can't let him get away with this!"

A lightbulb went on in Rey's mind as she connected the dots. The dizzy spells she'd been having all day and the general feeling of being unwell had been coming through the dyad. She wasn't sick… Ben was.

Rey pushed through the crowd, leaving Poe and Finn to answer questions. Sertali and Aarzio were guarding the tent entrance. Their faces gave nothing away, but Rey could sense they were deeply worried. They stood aside as she blew past them into the closed tent.

Rey gasped at the chaos inside the tent. Healers were running in all directions, grabbing supplies at Larma's direction and moving objects out of the way. Ben was on the floor, shaking and foaming at the mouth. Mixa was making sure Ben stayed on his side as his body seized.

"What happened?" Rey demanded, stepping forward to help. Fear gripped her like never before. She'd been through a lot between scavenging on Jakku and her time with the Resistance, but seeing Ben helpless on the floor with his eyes rolled back in his head scared her.

"Stay back!" Larma urged her to be still as she grabbed a med kit from a shelf.

The head healer booted up an advanced medical scanner and waved the device over Ben's torso. She frowned as she read the results.

"Someone tell me what's going on!" Rey fought to keep her voice level.

"This can't be right," Larma shook her head and passed the device over him again.

"What can't be right?" Rey fought the urge to move. She needed to do something to help!

Ben stopped seizing and his body went slack. The device in Larma's hand beeped erratically, causing Rey's heart rate to shoot up to match.

"He's stopped breathing," Larma calmly stated. "Mixa, start rescue breaths. Ayanin, grab the BVM from the CPR kit!" She moved out of Mixa's way as a Selkath obeyed her order. She took a blood sample from Ben's finger and fed it into the scanner for analysis.

"I need a suction unit!" Mixa shouted as he turned Ben onto his back.

A package flew through the air and Mixa deftly caught it. He tore it open and set up the suction device. With practiced moves, he used it to suck liquid out before he sealed his mouth over Ben's mouth to breathe for him. The scanner pinged, indicating it was done with the blood analysis.

"Kriffing hell," Larma gasped and covered her nose and mouth as she read the results. She dropped the device and ran for a different red box marked with a biohazard symbol. She pulled out a thick packet and put on a mask. She quickly distributed the cloth masks to everyone in the tent. "Quick, everyone put one on."

"What is it, Larma?" Rey asked again as she obeyed the command.

"Bekrian Shadow Plague," Larma said as she grabbed a large needle from the red box and injected herself in the thigh.

The other healers in the tent gasped and stepped back from Ben as they put on their own masks. Mixa frowned but never wavered in breathing for Ben.

"It's a fast-acting, lethal bacterial infection. Ben has it in the late stages," Larma explained grimly as she administered injections to the other healers.

"Aren't we already inoculated against it?" Rey hissed as Larma jabbed a needle into her thigh muscle and pressed down on the plunger. The liquid substance was dark gray and burned as it entered her body.

Rey vaguely remembered receiving a vaccine for the infection when she got her first medical checkup with the Resistance. Larma had almost thrown a fit when she realized Rey wasn't vaccinated against anything.

"Yes, but Bekrian Shadow isn't a normal bacterial infection. We can still contract it from prolonged contact with someone who has it as bad as Ben does," Larma explained as she helped Ayanin set up the bag valve mask.

She nodded to Mixa when they were ready and they smoothly transitioned to the alternate breathing device. Mixa wiped his mouth and calmly put on a mask and injected himself in the thigh with the mystery fluid.

"We need to tell Poe," Mixa urged Larma. "Ben could have infected the whole base."

Larma nodded and pulled out her comlink. "We need to find out who he's been in close contact with."

"He was assigned to food prep today," Mixa said grimly.

"Fuck," Larma spat and activated her comlink. "Poe, come in."

"I'm here, Larma," Poe responded quickly, sounding exhausted.

"Effective immediately, I'm placing this base on lockdown and I want everyone who ate at the canteen today or came into contact with Ben to quarantine in their tents," Larma ordered. "No one is allowed to enter or leave the base. My healers will go around to conduct tests and administer antibiotics within the hour. Do you understand?"

"I'll get it done," Poe acknowledged. "Keep me informed."

Larma ended the call and directed another healer to gather all available masks and get a count of the antibiotics before beginning a new call.

"Sek'min, we have a case of Bekrian Shadow Plague. I need you to quarantine the children and don't let anyone come into contact with them," Larma said quickly.

"We're near the shipyard. I'll keep them in one of the ships," Sek'min lowered his voice as he quietly urged the children to get on a ship.

"Did any of you interact with Ben today?" Larma bit her lip and held her breath as she waited for an answer.

"Ben? Who's… oh. He was in the canteen when we went there for first and mid-day meal," Sek'min reported shakily. "I don't think he touched the children's food though. Tawna had to make a new batch of breakfast rolls and she cooked the second meal herself."

"Thank the stars," Larma cast her gaze upward. "They should be okay then. Sanitize their hands with the onboard med kits. I'll be by with antibiotics soon. Keep an eye on them and let me know the second you see any symptoms."

"I will. The parents will be worried," Sek'min said with concern. High piping voices questioning him filtered over the comlink. He shushed them with soothing tones. "What should I tell them?"

"Direct them to me," Larma said. "I'll answer any questions they have. The children are to be quarantined until I'm certain the plague is neutralized."

"They won't like being cut off from their children," Sek'min cautioned.

"Better they be worried than infect their children," Larma said shortly and cut the transmission.

"He's stabilizing, Larma," Mixa reported as he examined the scanner readings.

"Get him on the cot," Larma directed. She waved to Rey to come help her.

Rey gratefully followed the healer. They grabbed a heavy box of equipment labeled as a ventilator and brought it over to Ben's sickbed.

"Aarzio says Ben made most of first meal, but he wasn't exhibiting any major symptoms," Mixa clinically reported as he and Ayanin worked together to lift Ben onto the cot without disrupting his breathing. "He got into a spat with Tawna and was relegated to refurbishing the food processing machines, so he didn't touch the mid-day meal. He was involved with preparing dinner, but no one was able to eat it because of the fiasco Winn and Jecob caused."

"We may have to thank them for that," Larma sighed as she inserted a tube into Ben's throat. The machine hissed as it breathed for him. "We got lucky. Based on his state, Ben wouldn't have been contagious until a few hours ago. The children weren't infected and we can likely just give everyone a round of antibiotics."

"What can we do for Ben?" Rey brushed Ben's ink-black hair back from his forehead. His skin was clammy, pale, and soaked in sweat.

"I don't know if there is anything we can do," Larma shook her head sadly. "He's had the inoculation against the bacterial infection, but he still contracted it and progressed to the final stages."

"I could try using the Force," Rey suggested, unwilling to think about the alternative of doing nothing. Her newfound healing abilities would finally be put to good use. "I could burn the bacteria away-"

"This is no normal bacterial infection," Larma pulled her hand from Ben's forehead. She wiped her hands with a wipe and gave her a pair of latex gloves. "You would have to raise his body temperature to twice that of a normal fever. He would die long before you burned away the plague. Not to mention, you would destroy all the good bacteria that Ben's body needs to function."

"But-" Rey protested, barely keeping it together.

"No, you have no medical knowledge about this," Larma said firmly. "If you had more control over your abilities and knew humanoid anatomy, I'd say it's worth the risk."

"Then what are our options? There must be something we can do!" Rey pleaded desperately.

"There is the original cure," Mixa said hesitantly. "Ngoisa root and leaf extract was used on Onderon to heal the populace from the plague in 20 ABY."

"It had a 40% success rate," Larma aborted a move to touch her face. She sighed in frustration. "It'd be worth a try, but we don't have any here on Ajan Kloss. On all my expeditions into the jungle, I've never come across it."

"What does it look like?" Rey asked, refusing to accept defeat.

"It's a blue plant with spiky, jagged leaves and iridescent red berries around its base," Mixa made gestures to indicate the general size of the plant. "It grows in thick bunches, so it's pretty hard to miss."

Hope welled in Rey. "I've seen those plants. Ben and I found a gorge with a few bushels of them last week when we tried a new path for our daily run."

"We need to obtain those plants immediately," Larma's eyes lit up with newfound hope.

"I'll go," Rey reached for the tent flap.

"You're not going anywhere until I'm certain you're clear of infection," Larma tugged her back. "You've had the antibiotics shot, but you could still contract it. We can't risk it."

Rey took out her comlink and buzzed Poe.

"How is he?"

"Ben is stable, but he needs a cure for the infection," Rey reported. "I can't come out until Larma clears me, so I need you to find the ngoisa plants. There are several in a gorge three kilometers east of the base."

"Fuck, he has Bekrian Shadow Plague?" Poe hissed into the comlink. "How did he catch it?"

"The bacteria could be in the water we drink," Larma supplied helpfully. "It's prevalent on most jungle planets. We don't always run the water through a filter for the adults since we're vaccinated."

"Even so, that's a remarkably fast incubation period," Poe said as he moved to a quieter area.

"I know. I don't understand what's going on, Poe," Larma said dispiritedly. "A fully inoculated individual with a severe infection would go through the stages in several days, not one day like Ben has."

"… Are you sure he's vaccinated?" Poe said after a brief, hesitant moment.

"Of course he is," Larma argued. "We all were when the bacterial strain was identified."

"No, I think he was absent at the time," Poe refuted her statement. "I remember Luke took him on a quest to find some ancient Jedi artifact. By the time they returned, we'd changed bases and were dealing with the Taskan fiasco."

Larma checked her med scanner and re-read the results of Ben's blood analysis. "Oh my stars, you're right, Poe. I don't see any traces of antibodies that would have come from a vaccine."

"How long does he have?" Aarzio's voice suddenly came over Poe's comm.

"A few hours, maybe a day," Larma shrugged. "It's guesswork at this point. The sooner he gets the cure, the better chance he has."

"Which way are we headed, Rey?" Poe asked.

"Head east until you reach the river," Rey directed. "Follow it three kilometers past the waterfall. There's a wall of moss hiding a tunnel that leads into the gorge."

"I will need at least ten healthy, mature plants with the root systems intact," Larma instructed over Rey's shoulder. "The more dark blue the leaves, the better."

"Okay, we'll be back in a few hours," Poe said. "I'm putting Finn in charge until then."

"Everyone is getting restless, Larma," Finn voiced his concerns. "What should I tell them?"

"Let them know Ben has Bekrian Shadow Plague but he likely hasn't infected anyone. My healers are going to go tent-to-tent to do scans and distribute antibiotics as a precaution," Larma said as she made sure all their supplies were in order. "I will comm the children's parents personally to let them know they are safely quarantined in the shipyard."

"Copy that."

The comlink cut out with a buzz of static.

"Rey, I want you to stay here while my healers and I check everyone," Larma directed her to sit. She took a blood sample from Rey and Mixa and fed them into the scanner. "If he starts coughing up blood or convulsing again, comm me immediately."

"Yes, ma'am," Rey gulped as she sat down and clutched one of Ben's hands in her palms. He was so deathly still.

"You're clear of the infection, but that could change in a hurry," Larma handed her a pair of safety glasses. "Wear these and your mask. The bacteria spreads through contact, so keep your gloves on." She turned toward Mixa, her lips downturned into a sad frown. "Mixa, you have the infection."

"I figured no less," Mixa nodded acceptingly. "Antibiotics or the ngoisa extract?"

"Ngoisa extract," Larma confirmed. "The antibiotics shot I gave you won't be strong enough to counter the infection. You'll feel fatigued in a few hours. The infection is in the early stages, but progressing fast."

"Let's hope Poe finds the gorge quickly," Mixa sat down opposite Rey and donned his own pair of safety glasses. "For both our sakes."

"That boy hasn't let me down yet," Larma smiled under her mask. "Don't give up hope."

Rey took comfort in Larma's confidence; she wasn't feeling very optimistic right now. With pale, haggard features and his inability to breathe for himself, Ben looked as if he was at death's door.

Larma and the three other healers pinned up a clear sheet of plastic to cordon off their area. They disinfected each other and did final scans to verify they didn't have the infection. Once Larma nodded in satisfaction, they exited the tent with large anti-gravity containers filled with masks and antibiotics.

The tent was silent with only the rhythmic sounds from the ventilator making noise, but the turmoil in Rey's mind was almost deafening. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, each one more depressing than the last. As much as she disliked Ben right now for revealing her secret, she didn't want him to die! After the mayhem of the past few years, they were finally in a good place and on even footing. They still had so much to explore with each other. It couldn't end here!

"He's going to be alright," Mixa overlaid a gloved hand on hers.

She hadn't realized she'd been shaking until he gripped her hand.

"How do you know?" Rey tore her eyes from Ben to look into Mixa's blue eyes.

"We know where the ngoisa plant is and Poe will bring some back soon," Mixa staidly said.

"What about the 40% success rate?"

"Most of the Onderon people were on their last breaths when the cure was administered," Mixa explained. "Ben is not at that point yet. And he has a way of beating the odds."

"That he does," Rey smiled a little. The comforting wave of reassurance Mixa was projecting helped her to feel more at ease. She was amazed at the captain's strength of character. He'd contracted the infection because he'd chosen to breathe for Ben, and he was the one comforting her. "Thank you for saving his life."

"No thanks necessary. I would do it again," Mixa nodded in acknowledgment. "He's a flawed man but he's trying his best to turn his life around."

"Few people can see beyond his past misdeeds," Rey sighed. "Thank the stars that someone besides me can believe in him too."

The medical scanner attached to Ben started beeping.

"What is it?" Rey questioned, her senses going into high alert.

"The oxygen level is a little high," Mixa made a few adjustments with the ventilator controls.

She exhaled air slowly through her nostrils as she relaxed again. Sweat was beading up on Ben's face so she grabbed a towel and gently dabbed it away. She was careful not to disturb the tube feeding him air.

An idea came to her suddenly. She couldn't burn away the infection in a flash, but she could send him healing energy and let his body distribute it. That could only do him good. She clenched his hand firmly and squeezed her eyes shut to concentrate. She reached into the spring of energy within her that connected to an intangible universal force; this would never get old. Power flooded her senses, giving her the ability to do anything she wanted.

Rey painstakingly focused on sending the thinnest stream of energy through the dyad so she wouldn't overwhelm his weakened system. Ben's lifeforce gradually brightened and felt stronger the longer she sent the healing energy. A strident beeping broke her concentration and snapped her out of her trance.

She opened her eyes to see Mixa hovering over the monitor. Ben's heart rate was increasing and his face was less wan. Rey sharply inhaled as his long, black eyelashes fluttered.

-oOoOoOo-

Ben fought his way through the dense fog coating his mind. It felt like there were a hundred pounds of quadanium steel weighing his body down. He was unbearably sweaty and hot, yet he shivered as icy cold air wafted against his skin. He forced his eyes open and winced as bright lights seared them. Sounds were indistinct; he was pretty sure there was a beeping noise and someone was speaking, but he couldn't make out the words. His throat was drier than the Tatooine deserts. He tried to swallow, but something was in the way.

The fog around his mind lifted more and Ben was thrust into full consciousness. He grimaced in agony as every part of his body and soul ached. His lungs felt weak and immobilized and something was blocking his mouth. He panicked as he realized he couldn't breathe. He swiped weakly at his mouth, trying to swat away the obstruction.

"Don't," said a female voice. A firm hand gently guided his arm back to his side. "You need it to breathe."

That did nothing to assuage Ben's fears. He redoubled his efforts and tried to sit up, but his movement before had been a fluke. He barely had the strength to move his hands and shift his head.

"Lie still, Ben," She continued, pressing him back into the bed. "You're in the med tent. We're getting you the help you need."

Ben's eyesight focused enough to see Rey above him. Her hair was coming out of her triple bun and her eyes were tight and worried over her cloth mask. He could partially see his reflection in the eyeglasses she wore; he looked terrible.

"Can we take him off the ventilator?" Rey directed over his head.

Ben turned his head minimally and saw Captain Ivin examining a monitor.

"No, not yet," The Zeltron shook his head. "Whatever you did allowed his body to start a fever to battle the infection, but he's not strong enough to breathe on his own. The infection is concentrated in his lungs. If we take him off the ventilator, we'll be back to square one."

Ben tried to speak, but he couldn't make a sound. He clenched around the tube in his throat and almost gagged.

"Easy there. Don't try and speak," Ivin squeezed his shoulder. "Just think or feel what you want to convey. Between Rey and I, we can interpret what you want to say."

Ben just wanted to know what the hell was going on! He shoved his frustration outward and both parties winced.

"You collapsed in the canteen," Ivin supplied. "I brought you to the med tent for treatment and you started seizing. Then you stopped breathing and we had to put you on a ventilator."

Ben narrowed his eyes. Why in the world had that been necessary?

"You have an infection," Rey said. She glanced up at the captain and the two shared a wordless exchange.

From his limited vantage point, Ben could tell they were deliberating whether or not to tell him something. Just tell me! He wanted to yell the words.

"It's Bekrian Shadow Plague," Ivin said grimly.

If Ben could have gasped, he would have done so. He was bedridden and on a ventilator; the infection was serious. Rey and Ivin shouldn't be anywhere near him! He pushed Rey away with his limited strength, trying to convey that they needed to leave.

"We're not going anywhere," Rey said firmly.

Ben despaired. He wasn't going to let her contract the bacterial infection! He was probably insanely contagious right now.

"Rey has been cleared and has received antibiotics," Ivin stated. "And I already have it."

Regret filled Ben, making his heart hurt more than it already did. His newfound ability to feel guilt was going to put him in a grave before the infection could.

Ivin squeezed his shoulder. "Don't. You stopped breathing and I did what I had to in order to keep you alive until we could get you on the respirator."

Ben closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to face yet another of his failures. Ivin was going to wither away alongside him; the Resistance captain didn't deserve to die this way.

"Neither of you is going to die," Rey said vehemently. "Poe is out there searching for the ngoisa plant right now. He'll be back soon and you'll both be cured."

"The cure is relatively easy to synthesize," Ivin said. "We'll extract juices from the roots and leaves and combine it with a few other medicines we have on hand."

What about everyone else on the base? Did they have enough to cure everyone?

"Despite being on food detail, it's looking like you haven't infected anyone," Ivin's eyes twinkled as he checked his comlink device. "It's been a couple of hours since Larma and the others went out to check the base. She hasn't reported any positive cases."

Good. Ben didn't want any more casualties on his conscience. Being on the light side sucked. He had not needed to worry about other people when he was in the First Order. But… he did suppose there were some benefits. He didn't feel as conflicted about his identity and purpose, and he was able to be with Rey more often. His mood took a downturn as he reconsidered that last bit. Revealing Rey's lineage hadn't done him any favors.

"Captain, can we have a moment?" Rey quietly asked the Zeltron.

"Sure," Ivin nodded and went to sit by the plastic sheet dividing the tent in half. He pulled out a reader and tapped on it.

Ben glowered at Rey and turned his head away. Those were private thoughts. She could stop reading his mind now. They didn't need to discuss it. She'd made up her mind. It was clear from the way she'd been avoiding him for the last week.

"No, we need to talk," Rey insisted as she lowered her voice. She used a gloved hand to gently turn his head back towards her. "We should have had this conversation sooner, but I've been stalling. I wanted to work out exactly what I wanted to tell you."

Ben sighed internally. She'd probably spent the last week figuring out the best way to tell him to get lost. Anger simmered in his mind despite his exhaustion.

"You were the one who told me who my parents really were," Rey gently squeezed his hand. "I… I appreciated that. The second time, that is, because it was the truth. I've wondered my whole life who they were and why they abandoned me on Jakku. Knowing they were trying to protect me from the emperor, my… grandfather, has put to rest a lot of my anger and resentment."

Rey sighed and withdrew her hand. She crossed her arms to hug herself. Her eyes glittered with complex emotions Ben couldn't distinguish.

"But that wasn't your secret to tell," Rey shook her head. "It was mine and you took that from me. You didn't consider how I would be impacted. My standing with the Resistance has fallen, no matter what they say otherwise. I can see the doubt in their eyes and feel their hesitance."

Ben sent every ounce of remorse he could muster through their bond. It was… wrong of him to tell everyone she was a Palpatine. He'd assumed she had already told them, but that didn't matter. He should have kept his temper under control. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Rey, but that's all he ever managed to do.

"I know you're sorry. I can feel it," Rey nodded in acknowledgment. "I'm not mad at you anymore. I…"

She stopped talking and looked away. A tear trickled down her cheek and disappeared under her mask. Ben wished he had the strength to reach out and comfort her. She looked so lost and defeated.

"I'm scared I can't trust you," Rey said in a rush.

Ben's heart dropped into his stomach. She could trust him! Well… now she could.

"You're committed to turning over a new leaf and I knew you wouldn't change overnight," Rey exhaled and shook her head. "But deep down, I couldn't help but hope you would."

Ben didn't know how to respond to that. Of course his transformation wouldn't be immediate. He'd started on the path back to the light side when he threw his lightsaber into the oceans on Kef Bir, but he didn't know how to approach the rest of his journey. It was unknown to him. He just needed a wealth of patience and a bit of guidance.

"I've been treating you as if you were your former self," Rey nodded. "But you're not the Kylo Ren I've known for the past few years or the Ben Solo I fought with on Exogol. You're someone new now."

Ben agreed. It was scary, but he was forging a new path for himself. Who knows where it would lead?

"So I've been thinking… for us to trust each other again, I think we should begin anew," Rey grasped his hand. "What do you think?"

Ben squeezed her hand. Stars above, yes, he wanted a fresh start! He wouldn't betray her trust this time.

"I'm glad you agree."

Happiness flickered in her eyes. Rey opened her side of the dyad and let emotions come across. Ben drank it in like a man stranded in the desert.

Rey laughed quietly. "Hello, Ben Skywalker. I'm Rey. It's nice to meet you."

Amidst the uncertainty and fear, Ben sensed a glimmer of hope in Rey. He grasped onto it and sent it back with his own newfound hope they could repair this rift.

A cloth flap on the other side of the plastic barrier was suddenly shoved aside and three people bustled into the tent. Ben lifted his head as much as he could to see what was going on. It hurt and shifted the tube in his throat, so he put his head back down. But from a perfectly positioned reflective metal container, he could see Larma had returned with Tawna and another Resistance fighter. He thought he recognized the latter person. Hadn't he bumped into her when he was gathering new gel packs for the food processors?

"Do I have the fucking infection, Larma?!" Tawna screeched at a high decibel.

Ben winced as her piercing tones made his head ring.

"I won't know for certain until I analyze a blood sample," Larma soothed the panicking Jixiti as she took blood from her arm. The commander winced as Tawna latched onto her with partially formed claws.

"Commander D'Acy needs to run the analysis before she can tell you the results," Ivin told the frightened Jixiti from behind the transparent barrier. His voice was soothing and even made Ben relax. "Have a seat and let her do the tests, alright?"

Tawna breathed harshly through her nose and nodded in jerky motions. She let go of Larma and sat on a cot; she rocked gently as she wrapped protective arms around her stomach.

"Why don't you go assist Larma?" Ivin suggested to Rey as he came into Ben's field of vision. "I'll monitor Ben."

Rey looked to Ben with a questioning probe. Ben smiled slightly around the tube and patted her hand, mentally nudging her away.

Ivin guided Rey through the decontamination process. Ben's nose twitched as the sharp scent of disinfectant spray wafted over him. Once Rey was deemed clean by a medical scanner, she quickly hopped to the other side of the plastic sheet barrier. She donned fresh personal protective equipment and took a blood sample from the Resistance fighter whose name Ben didn't know.

Larma's analyzer dinged when it was ready and Tawna jumped in a flash to the commander's side.

"What is it? What are the results?" Tawna persistently asked. Her tone rose in pitch and became tinged with fear again. "Is my baby okay?"

Ben blinked in surprise as his wearied brain tried to process the quick turn of events. The Jixiti didn't look pregnant. He hadn't sensed another lifeform in her either. Was he losing his touch or were the cuffs more debilitating to his abilities than he'd previously thought?

"I don't see any germ growths or infection symptoms," Larma said soothingly as she pointed at the device's display. "These counts would be much higher if you had contracted the virus."

"But I was near Ben all day!" Tawna pressed on. Ben saw a brief glow of green in the metal container's reflection as she glanced his way. "Are you sure we don't have the plague?"

"Jixiti biology is very resilient and you have a hardy constitution. I don't have any worries for either of you," Larma guided the trembling woman back to a sitting position. "But I am recommending you take a course of antibiotics like the rest of the base." She handed Tawna a small packet of pills.

"What about Ava?" Tawna shakily asked as she ingested the first dose of antibiotics. "And the rest of the children?"

"I guided Sek'min through administering blood tests and the results say none of the children have it. After I synthesize the cure for Ben and Mixa and verify the plague has been neutralized, I'll lift the quarantine on the children," Larma detailed her plan gently yet firmly to the worried mother. "They'll receive antibiotics and will wear biomonitors for the next week. Nothing will happen to them, I promise."

"I couldn't bear it if I lost Ava so soon after Tarazal," Tawna confided as the healer wrapped her in a blanket. "I hardly know what to do now without him."

"We're here for you, Tawna," Larma assured her. "Anything you need, you just ask."

"Thank you, Larma," Tawna sniffed. "I think I'll wait in my tent. Is that alright?"

"Of course," Larma nodded. "I will comm you the moment I'm ready to lift the quarantine orders."

Tawna nodded in acknowledgment and slipped out of the tent. Larma sighed sadly and her shoulders drooped.

The device Rey was using the analyze the other Resistance fighter's blood chirped. Larma pulled herself together and took the results from Rey and examined them.

"I see a few growths indicative of a jungle bacteria, but it's too soon to label it as Bekrian Shadow," Larma said as she delved into a red box. "I'm going to give you an injection of antibiotics instead of the pills."

Ben jumped slightly as Ivin appeared unexpectedly above him. The Zeltron didn't look his best. His usually alert eyes were tired and his bright purple hair was limp and greasy. Ivin was shivering despite there being no breeze in the med tent. Ben sent out a mental feeler to probe how the captain was doing.

"I'm fine. Just a little cold," Ivin said through chattering teeth as he wrapped a thick blanket around himself. "Don't worry about me. You should try and get some sleep to conserve energy. It might be a few more hours before Poe returns with the plants."

Ben could hardly fathom sleeping now. Between contracting a deadly plague, being too weak to breathe for himself, repairing his relationship with Rey, and getting distracted by people coming in and out of the tent, he was too wired to sleep.

"You're floating on a cloud, far above the ground," Ivin said soothingly; even with a scratchy voice, he sounded quite melodic. Ben's eyelids became heavy and they involuntarily closed. "You're basking in the sun's warm glow as it gradually fades into the horizon. The cloud envelopes you in its soft tufts as you drift..."

Ben felt unnaturally calm, yet he was okay with it. The rhythmic pulses of the ventilator feeding him air were distant. The hard cot was now a comfortable cushion and he felt warm and safe as he drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

-oOoOoOo-

"… need to do testing!"

"We don't have time…"

Ben's eyes shot open as a cacophony of voices broke into his dreamless sleep. He blearily turned his aching head to look at the wall of people gathered at his cot with their backs to him. Ivin, Rey, and Aarzio were blocking Larma from approaching and were in the midst of an argument with her.

"The plants are immature," Ivin argued in a hoarse voice. "How can we be sure the synthesized cure will work properly?"

"We don't have a choice," Larma said crossly. "Step aside."

"What's the problem?" Aarzio asked even as he stood firmly in Larma's path. "We followed your instructions. These were the most mature plants we could find."

"We searched the entire gorge. These were the plants with the darkest blue leaves," Poe said as he rustled one of the plant stems.

"No, you don't understand," Ivin's heated comments dissolved into a coughing fit and he bent over from the force of it.

Everyone backed away from him, giving Ben a good view of the ill Zeltron. He didn't look good. Rey guided the captain to a cot as Larma fetched him a glass of water.

"The cure is synthesized from the liquid in the leaves and roots. The younger the plant, the more poison it has," Ivin explained as he sipped the water. "The cure has historically been made from mature plants. We have no idea what the side-effects will be or if it will even be effective. You can't give it to him!"

"I'm not sure if this is a good idea, Larma," Rey looked between the irate captain and exasperated healer. "What if he's right? What if it doesn't work?"

"We can't afford to wait for the plants to mature or to go search the jungle for more," Larma retorted. "We've run out of time. We need to act now or it will be too late."

"Give it to me first," Ivin insisted as he leaned back on a pillow and rolled up a sleeve. "If I live, we'll know the injection is safe and we can give it to Ben."

Ben could roll his eyes at the stupidity of this argument. Were they really arguing who to inject first? He was the one closer to dying from the plague, so why not just give him the cure, even an untested one? He reached out through his bond to Rey, but the connection slipped from his grasp. Not only was his body too weak and practically paralyzed, but he also couldn't use his mind to communicate. He tried to say something loud enough to gain their attention over their trumpeting statements, but the damn breathing tube was in the way. He closed his eyes to ward against the pain that radiated through his body.

"Ben?"

Gloved hands clutched his shoulders and a soothing wave of energy raced through him, easing the constriction in his throat. He opened his grimy eyes to see Rey's lovely hazel eyes gazing back at him. He wished he could reach out to her, but his strength was a faint wisp of nothing.

"I thought you said you couldn't wake him up," Rey directed over her shoulder.

"I couldn't," Larma was flabbergasted as she pushed past Aarzio and examined Ben's health monitor.

'You loud idiots could wake up the dead,' Ben wanted to say, but he settled for a heated glare.

"We have the cure," Larma briefed him.

"A half-cure!" Ivin croaked from his cot. He slowly tried to stand up, but Aarzio pushed him back down. "We don't know if it will work. Which is why I am taking it first."

Ben actually rolled his eyes this time. Was everyone on the so-called good side an altruistic fool? It was a wonder they hadn't all died off before now.

"I'm confident it will work as intended," Larma waved the syringe filled with a clear, red-tinged fluid. "We can't delay any longer."

"You can't use him as a lab rat!" Ivin protested amid a flurry of coughs.

"Maybe Mixa is right, Larma," Aarzio said as he supported Ivin. "What if it kills Ben?"

"We'll leave it up to Ben," Larma looked down at him. "His life is the one at stake."

Ben took in Larma's solemn, yet resolute expression. She really did think the cure would bring him back from the brink of death. That was good enough for him. And it wasn't as if he had any other choice. He slowly blinked at her, trying to convey his consent to take the cure first.

Larma nodded minimally and sterilized his shoulder with a damp alcohol swab.

"Larma!" Ivin protested.

"He agreed to take it," Larma said as she prepped the syringe. "This debate is over."

"He wants to take the cure first, Mixa," Rey gripped his hand firmly. "We have to let him."

Better him than Ivin, Ben reasoned. If he had a bad reaction, they'd have ample time to come up with a solution for Ivin. He wasn't being altruistic here, just logical.

Ben squeezed Rey's hand as Larma injected the needle into his shoulder, redirecting the urge he felt to shy away from the needle as liquid fire poured into his blood. His weak heart beat faster, pushing the cure throughout his body and a whimper involuntarily left him. Rey clutched his hand tighter, though he could hardly feel it as he was swallowed by the fire burning him alive.

---

A/N: I have another chapter at last for you! I couldn't find a good cut-off point, so this will have to do. :) Never fear, I will have another chapter out soon.