Chapter Text
The printer was practically screaming for mercy at this point, page after page spilled out only to be swiftly snatched up, stapled and added to an increasing number of piles on the floor. Ben sat among them, his fingers flying over his laptop, thoroughly analyzing the contents of the stolen information stored on the flash drive. Anything that could help bring down Snoke was of the utmost importance. It’d be easier to kill him, Ben wanted to and he was certainly capable of doing so, but no. He needed find out what that freak was planning first.
He also needed something to keep him occupied enough so that his thoughts didn’t wander off to a certain brown-haired girl who had the power to reduce him to a puddle of complicated feelings. Even so, Rey still managed to weasel her way into his head and the ghost of her lips still burned his cheek.
This whole soulmate thing was going to be the death of him.
It was almost two in the morning when the door to his bedroom opened and Luke stomped towards him. “Do you know how early it is? That machine is unbearable,” he exclaimed before taking in the state of Ben’s living room. “What’s all this?”
“There’s the possibility that Snoke has someone capable of hacking my computer. I’m running diagnostics and installing software to make sure it’s secure,” Ben answered, not even bothering to look at his uncle, too engrossed in color coding various documents. The soulmate bond wasn’t inconvenient all the time, it did made organization easier. “Until then, physical copies are the best approach.”
Luke’s mouth was slightly opened. “You’ve destroyed an entire forest!”
“Some sacrifices must be made in the name of justice.” Ben pushed his glasses up, his reading glasses, not those dumbass sunglasses currently laying on his coffee table.
“I’m going to assume that you swept the apartment for bugs as well.”
“Of course I did,” Ben scoffed. “I’m not a moron.”
“Well, that’s debatable,” Luke said under his breath, earning him a venomous glare from Ben. “I’m just saying that you’ve been making some questionable choices when it comes to a certain someone.”
“I made my choice, but then dad decided to play matchmaker and came up with some diabolical plan to get Rey in the same room as me.” That initial phone call was virtually an ambush set up by Han, and Rey coming into the Millennium Falcon on her day off was definitely not a coincidence. Although, he did suspect Kaydel was behind that one, but she probably didn’t expect Rey to dress so…eccentrically. “And you, you invited her to dinner and told her I could cook!”
“I’ll admit, I didn’t think that through. I was a little peeved that you tattled on me to Leia and wanted some payback.” So fucking childish. Ben was going to get him back for that. “But Ben, you got to think long and hard about what you’re going to do here, kid. Being an agent and having a soulmate is a dangerous combination.”
“I’ve understood that since the beginning,” he said solemnly, stapling the final file together. “This job, I like doing it. I’ve worked hard for it. I even allowed my face to get sliced opened for it. It’s not something I can give up so easily.”
“And what about her? What about Rey?”
Ben faltered, he had no definitive answer since everything involving Rey was so convoluting and made his head spin. “If it wasn’t for the soulmate bond then we never would have met. How much of what I’m feeling is the bond and what is me? I want to stay away from her,” he admitted, “but I can’t and that puts her at risk. Kylo Ren has enemies and if they find out…”
Luke crossed his arms, looking ever so like the mentor he once was. “Then we protect her, no matter what you decide to do. You’re talking to the director of the FBI after all.”
“She deserves better than a broken man.” It was a slip of the tongue, he’d never displayed such an insecurity so openly before and wished he could take the words back. It was a moment of weakness.
“I don’t know where you’re getting that from, but you aren’t broken Ben,” Luke said firmly. “You went through something horrible, but you didn’t let it destroy who you really are. You’re complex and difficult, stronger than most, but not broken.”
“Wow…” Ben was unsure what to say, he couldn’t remember if there was a time where Luke had comforted or praised him to this extent. “This got really serious for a conversation at two in the morning.”
“Your fault for not sleeping and waking me up. Seriously, Ben, do something about your sleep schedule.”
“You sound like my mother.”
Luke gasped, being compared to his twin sister was always something Ben could count on to rile his uncle up. “Take that back.”
“No.” Ben deadpanned. “Go to bed, Luke.” Shit, now Ben was starting to sound like his mother.
“I’m going, but not because you said so.” It was somewhat irritating to watch as Luke waved at him dismissively before practically strutting back to Ben’s room, but it was extremely satisfying when Ben heard a loud ruckus followed by sounds of terror mere seconds later. “What the hell!? When did the dog get in here?”
There was a bit of growling followed by the sound of a door slamming shut then Nines came barreling towards him. “Hey there. Did you scare the mean man?” He lifted her up and held her at eye level. “What do you think I should do about Rey?” The small dog gazed back at him with her tongue hanging out. “Yeah? Well, you’re biased.” Loud snoring broke the silence of the apartment. “What we should do is buy some damn earplugs.”
He set the dog aside and picked up the forgotten documents he’d just finished and stared at the file name before hiding it underneath the couch. Whatever was written in the file titled Solo, Benjamin would be for only Ben to read, and Maker, his eyes were so tired.
Just like the rest of him.
Nightmares, he was always prepared for nightmares, they’d haunted him for months. It’d been a long time since he’d actually had a pleasant dream and while he would classify this as nice, it was also really fucking weird.
The brush in his hand easily glided through the girl’s hair, whoever she was, and the act felt strangely calming. That is, until she suddenly jumped out of nowhere. Panic set in, worried that he hurt her somehow. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Holy shit. Ben cursed his subconscious, the first night he hadn’t been plagued by a nightmare and his brain decided to torture him by dropping Rey right in front of him. “That’s good,” he said relieved and examined her hair. He had never seen it down before while it was certainly enticing like that, he felt like it suited her more to have it up. “Braids or buns?” The answer was clear, he’d always associated braids with his mother and an idea popped into his head. “Buns sound more fun.”
Somehow he was good at this, like it came to him instinctively. Rey was silent the entire time, but he did notice how the tension in her shoulders slowly eased away. The end result exceeded his expectations tremendously, it actually looked good. “Done.” He handed her a mirror that suddenly appeared in his hand, he decided not to question anything anymore, and waited while she judged the three buns he’d done. She laughed and he took that as a good sign, at least she wasn’t horrified by his creation, and felt somewhat smug about it. “Why are you laughing?”
That just made her laugh harder, it was nice that she was enjoying herself. “Nothing. I’ve just never seen anyone with three buns before.” He could see her smile brightly into the mirror. “I like it.”
Pride swelled up inside of him, it was good to know that he wasn’t a disaster of a human being in his dreams. “I’m glad,” Ben told her and immediately noticed that she was trying to angle the mirror to see behind her, specifically at him, and stopped her out of reflex. “Rey, close your eyes.” There was no need to hide from her, no need for sunglasses to serve as a wall between them, but still, he couldn’t find himself able to cross that boundary, yet, somehow he mustered up the courage to try something else.
He put his hands on her biceps and turned her around as smoothly as he could considering their awkward positioning on the ground. “Keep them closed,” he whispered, anxiety chewing at him from the inside as he cupped both of her cheeks, and leaned in.
“Hush, don’t interrupt.”
He stopped, no longer nervous, but confused beyond all belief. Don’t interrupt…himself? “What?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly, something was definitely off. “Continue.”
But he couldn’t. This didn’t feel right at all, he didn’t want some fake kiss with an illusion of Rey, it wouldn’t be anything near fulfilling so he pulled away from her. “Maybe it’s time you wake up,” he said aloud.
“Ben—“
There was a piece of paper stuck to his face when he woke up and no Rey. He must’ve been more exhausted than he thought because apparently his body chose to shut down on the floor before he could even make it to the couch. On the bright side, the nightmare free night revitalized him enough that he’d probably be good for the next couple of days and not envious of Hux’s worktime naps.
“Shit.” Ben immediately began searching for his phone, letting out a string of curse words that his father would be proud of when he read the time. Ben hastily jumped to his feet and hurried to his room, not caring that he woke Luke up when he threw open the door.
“What the heck, Ben?”
“I overslept,” he answered, rushing out of his closet in fresh clothing while combing his hair, and now he was running behind his usual schedule. Of course, his usual schedule for the past couple of months had taken into account the fact that he never slept. That bizarre dream was to blame for this. “I need to get to work.”
“It’s still early,” Luke pointed out as Ben finished brushing his teeth and grabbed everything he needed for the day.
“I’m usually at the office by this time and I don’t want Snoke to think that anything in my life has changed recently.” Kylo Ren was never late, and even though Snoke wasn’t in New York right now, Ben knew he had undercover lackey’s keeping watch for him.
“Well, I’m going to drop by headquarters near the end of the day so I’ll give you a lift back here and we can get to work on those files. All right?”
It was when Ben turned around to answer his uncle that he noticed Luke wasn’t wearing a shirt and his face scrunched up as if he was in actual physical pain. The grotesque image of his middle-aged uncle shirtless was not something he wanted to see right now, or ever, for that matter. “I have to go.”
He switched out his reading glasses for his sunglasses and attached a leash to an eager Nines’s collar. It’d still wouldn’t be a good idea to leave her with Luke, not unless he wanted to come home to one of them dead.
His morning commute hadn’t changed much in the past ten days, people still saw him as some sort of menacing creature and stayed out of his way, not that Ben minded. Who cared what people thought of him if it meant he could get to his destination without delay?
Although, Nines was still as aggressive to strangers on the subway as she was yesterday, baring her teeth at anyone who got close enough to them. The security guard did not question her presence today, either still gullible enough to believe she was a K-9 unit or was terrified that Kylo Ren would murder him if he made a comment.
Hux was already seated at his desk by the time Ben reached the Surveillance Department, stupidly grinning at his computer screen. “Do I want to know why you’re making that face? It’s disturbing.”
“Shut up,” he snarled as Ben sat down. “My guy is actually using his phone for once, looks like he’s setting up a date for tonight. Finally, something other than pictures of that dog of his.” Despite saying that, Ben knew that Hux was actually growing fond of his individual’s pet. Speaking of pets, Hux noticed Nines as she settled down next to Ben’s chair. “Great, you brought your little gremlin again.”
“She makes this place more bearable.” Well, she did for him, but the small corgi and Hux were glaring at each other with utter distain, and although they did seem less hostile than yesterday, their little war would have to be put on hold for now. “Don’t forget the weekly reports are due today.”
Hux sneered at him. “I am fully aware you nitwit.”
Despite all the changes in his life, Ben could always count on Hux being a thorn in his side no matter what. “Just make sure you do an adequate job, jackass.” If everything went according to plan then Snoke would be taken care of and they’d have a good chance of returning to field work, but showing incentive right now could definitely help their case.
“Don’t order me around.” This man had to be the most insufferable person in the entire world, and of course Ben would have to be the one stuck with him, there was no getting rid of him either. He could never understand how the two of them managed to get anything done together. “I’m sure everyone would quit if you were the boss.”
Ben didn’t want to be in charge of anybody, but that didn’t mean he was going to take Hux’s insult laying down. “One of these days, I’m going to punch you in the face.”
“Just don’t aim for my nose.”
It’d be too cruel to make Hux’s face any more unappealing than it already was. “Fine.”
Now that they had that abnormally amicable agreement out of the way, the two of them went to work with Hux starting on his report while Ben collected data on Rey’s internet usage. In fact, he was in the middle of calculating the average amount of time she spent on each website she frequented when his computer pinged. Ben casually opened the virtual terminal and, like every other day on her morning commute, she was browsing social media, quickly switching between apps.
According to some random quiz on some tabloid site, Rey was a lamp and he promptly wanted to punch himself for thinking something as cheesy as it’s because she always lights up the room. Ben just discovered he was a nightstand when she began to Google some questions that garnered his full attention.
How strong is a soulmate bond? Considering the fact that she was searching for information about the Rogue One movie earlier, Ben assumed that she was just gathering more evidence to prove to Finn that Jyn and Cassian were soulmates. Nothing suspicious there.
Why don’t some people care about their soulmate? That was a pretty odd thing to look up, especially for her since Ben’s never heard Rey speak or think negatively about soulmates. According to his newfound knowledge of the series, there wasn’t anything in the Rogue One novels that justified asking something like that
What to do when your soulmate is lying?
Okay, now he was feeling a little nauseous. This was not about Rogue One.
Sirens went off in his head. Rey knew. How did she figure it out? Where did he mess up? Unless you count the incident, Ben’s never had his cover blown during an operation. Did someone give him up? No, Rey didn’t have contact with anyone who was aware about it since she left the Millennium Falcon yesterday.
Damage control, he could fix this. All he needed to do was just explain himself to her…or he could leave the country and avoid the discussion all together. Antarctica sounded like a nice place, total isolation from humans and plus there were penguins. Don’t be such a coward, you idiot.
Begging for forgiveness was the best route to go, and after that, well, Ben had no idea what would happen, but Rey was an understanding person, she’d get why he was so conflicted.
Oh, who was he kidding? It was game over and Ben wouldn’t be surprised if she’d wanted to kick his ass and never see him again.
The last thing Ben wanted was for her to hate him.
He felt utterly defeated and all he could do now was sit at his stupid desk and wait for the eventual fallout. Ben was practically catatonic as he continued to type out his report, choosing to exclude anything that could tie him back to her and ignoring the various other notifications popping up on his computer throughout the day until she received a somewhat ominous text message from Finn.
DJ and I are in the parking lot. Operation Flyboy is a go.
Rey was definitely not making his job easy today, especially since the signal from her phone completely disappeared out of nowhere. It made no sense since the reception in that area was good. “Sorry dad,” he mumbled as he hacked into the Millennium Falcon’s security cameras and flipped through them until he found her walking towards a random van in the middle of the parking lot. “What are you are going to do in there?”
Something, or someone, was interfering with the cell phone transmissions. Whoever was doing this was obviously skilled.
Flyboy, on the other hand, sounded familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint it exactly.
Whatever business she had in that van didn’t last long, Rey was in and out in less than ten minutes. Ben continued to swap between cameras and found her talking with Han, and he was having trouble accessing her phone ever since the signal got scrambled.
It took longer than he liked to admit to fix the connection, Hux was better at troubleshooting these sort of setbacks, but Ben would rather jump in front of a bus before boosting Hux’s ego. By the time Ben finished and got her phone screen back up on his computer, Rey was sitting in the break room opening and closing her contact book. Ben got a bad feeling about this when he saw her scroll down to the S’s and linger above a specific name.
Ben scrambled out of his seat. “Watch the dog.”
“What? Where are you going?” Hux asked obviously dumbfounded, swiveling in his chair as Ben hurried to the elevator with his phone in hand. So much for not drawing attention to himself today, and it was just his luck that there was a large crowd in front of the elevator, but there wasn’t enough time to wait. He knew that his phone was going to ring any second now and he had to get out of this building before that happened.
Snoke had eyes and ears everywhere.
The stairwell was his only option at this point. How many floors up was he? Would he’d able to make in time? There was only one way to find out.
He took the stairs two at a time, sometimes even three, while being hyperaware that one wrong step could possibly end up in him breaking his neck. I did not survive being tortured just to be beaten by stairs.
The first ring came and he didn’t know where he was. The second came as he passed giant writing that said 3F. The third ring happened after he reached the main lobby. The fourth was when he turned the corner into an alleyway outside.
He answered on the fifth.
“Ben?”
Oh, his lungs hurt, but he managed to croak out, “Hey Rey.”
“You sound a little out of breath. Were you jogging?” Strange, Ben expected to face her wrath instead of her concern for his well-being. Maybe it was safe to assume that she hadn’t found out about their current predicament...or she was playing the long con and was going to spring it on him later.
“No, just a little out of shape.” Maker, a couple months out of commission had done this much damage to his body. He definitely needed to start working out again and give up that marshmallow cereal he liked so much. That was disappointing. “My workplace has terrible cell reception,” Lying was becoming a second nature to him at this point and he just kept digging himself deeper and deeper in a hole. “I needed to go down some stairs to get outside.”
“Must’ve been a lot of stairs.” You have no idea. It was good cardio though.
“A few, yes.”
“It’s a good thing you have long legs then.” There was no denying that he won the genetic lottery in that department. He had Han to thank for that. “Could you come with me to a restaurant tonight?”
His heart nearly stopped beating and he lost the ability to speak for a moment. “Are you asking me out?” At this rate, he was going to be dead long before he decided what was more important, his job or the soulmate he’d never wanted.
“No!” She cried out instantaneously. “Why does everyone think that?!”
Huh? Everyone? As in multiple people? Last time he checked she told him that she didn’t have a boyfriend so he just came to the conclusion that there wasn’t anyone she was interested in. “Wha—who else did you ask out today?”
“No one.” Ben hated how good it felt to hear that, this bond was causing loads of trouble. “That was a misunderstanding and so is this. I meant to ask if you could drive me and my roommate to a restaurant.”
As creepy as it sounded, this provided the perfect opportunity to figure out what she was up to. There was still the mystery of that white van and the signal going out, not to mention, the possibility of her being in some sort of trouble. It technically was his job to inspect any suspicious behavior and this was his area of expertise.
Plus, he could be there to keep her safe if anything dangerous goes down.
Ben must’ve been quiet for too long because she sounded embarrassed when she confessed, “And I forgot you don’t own a car.” He already had a plan to rectify that bump in the road. “It’s fine, we’ll figure it out. Sorry for calling you at work. I didn’t really plan this through.”
“I was just thinking,” he admitted before she could hang up. “I’ll do it. Don’t worry about it.”
“Really? Thank you so much!” Rey exclaimed happily. “I owe you one.”
This is for your job, Ben. Remember that. He nodded before he remembered that she couldn’t see him. “I’ll see you after work then.”
Ben leaned against the gross alley wall, wondering what exactly he was doing with his life
“I need you to look after Nines tonight,” Ben told Hux when he finally got back to his desk, slipping into his chair as if he hadn’t just ran a marathon down over ten flights of stairs. Time to delete some security footage.
The both of them looked down at the small dog sleeping between them. “There’s absolutely no way in hell am I going to spend any more time than necessary with that miniature monster.”
“I’ll buy you coffee for the next week.”
“Done.”
Thank the Maker for Hux’s caffeine addiction. There was one more obstacle in his path, but it could easily be rectified.
He still had a score to settle with someone after all.
Luke was standing outside headquarters at the end of the day, looking up from his watch when he noticed Ben striding towards him. “There you are. You ready to go?” Luke asked, his eyes scanning the area. “Where’s the dog?”
“Don’t worry about her,” Ben told him. Any second now.
And right on cue, a Suburban abruptly stopped near them and began honking, drawing his uncle’s attention. “Why does that car look familiar?”
The driver rolled down their window. “Don’t just stand there like a fool, Luke Skywalker.” Leia commanded, hitting the horn one more time. “Get in the car!”
Luke gawked at the unexpected sight of his sister. “Leia? What are you doing here?”
“Ben sent me a text saying you needed a ride. Come on!” Another honk and people were beginning to stare, unaware that this was the director of the FBI being yelled at by his younger, and much smaller, sister.
“No, I didn’t—“
The sound of jingling keys cut him off and he turned his head to see them dangling from Ben’s fingers. “Yes, you do,” gloated Ben before he left Luke behind to commandeer his rental car.
“Wha—” Luke patted his pockets. “When did you—Ben Skywalker, you little thief!”
The look on Luke’s face alone made all of this worth it and he was actually in a good mood during the drive to his father’s shop. Ben was pulling into the parking lot when it occurred to him how out of character that was for his usual cranky self.
His phone began to ring as he got out of the car and groaned when he saw the name on the screen. As much as he didn’t want to, Ben picked up only to be greeted by Hux’s ear-splitting voice. “Ren, this thing is not cooperating. Come pick it up.”
Ben looked up as he heard the Falcon’s door open and saw Rey coming towards him. “I need you to look after her for a couple more hours. Just keep her busy and don’t yell at her when she bites you.” There was a grunt of disapproval on the other line just as Rey reached him. “Stop whining, Hux.”
“Kylo Ren, your bloody animal is not my responsibility! Come back here or I’ll—” Hux stopped midway through his sentence. “The beast just peed on my fucking shoe! Ren, I will spare your devil spawn, but I will finish you.”
Rey laughed, no doubt she heard everything thanks to Hux screaming through the phone. “You and your coworker sound like pretty good friends.”
He was seriously questioning her sanity right about now. “No.” Hux as his friend? Gross. “Ugh, that sentence made me throw up a little in my mouth.” Ben had been too busy dealing with Hux that he hadn’t noticed Rey’s hair until he was about to get into the car, and now he was seriously questioning his own sanity.
Three buns.
“Is something wrong?” She asked, starting to look more and more uncomfortable by the second.
It had to be a crazy coincidence. “Nothing. Let’s go before you get any other ridiculous notions.”
“So whose car is this?”
“I stole my Uncle Luke’s rental car.” Of course, he wasn’t about to tell her that he orchestrated a scene where his mother unknowingly created a distraction just so that he could pickpocket his uncle, partially out of necessity and partially out of pure pettiness.
“Thank you for this,” Rey told him as he as drove towards her apartment building where Finn was standing on the sidewalk holding a duffel bag in his hand.
The car hadn’t even come to a complete stop when Finn threw open the back door and jumped in after he tossed the bag onto the seat. “It’s almost time,” he announced as he settled in. “Driver, let’s go!”
“I’m going to need directions first,” Ben deadpanned, he couldn’t read minds.
Considering how fast Finn froze, it was obvious that he wasn’t expecting Ben to be the one behind the wheel. “Oh, hello Ben. This is a surprise.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “We need to go to a restaurant called Coruscant.” With the power of Google maps, they maneuvered through the city in silence until Finn randomly asked him a question and somewhat caught him off guard. “Do you always wear sunglasses at night?” Ben was under the impression that Rey told her best friend everything which would include his bullshit lie about having lasik surgery.
Rey interjected before he could say anything, saving them from an inevitable freak-out session if Finn found out they were been driven around by someone who supposedly shouldn’t be driving in the first place. “He probably just wants to look cool.”
“Where should I drop you off?” He asked as they neared the restaurant.
It was Finn who responded. “Park across the street and make sure we have a good view of the windows.”
What the hell kind of request was that? “That’s oddly specific.”
“Please don’t ask questions,” Rey begged while at the same time Finn exclaimed, “We’re on a stakeout!”
Staying with them wasn’t something he’d considered, his idea was to leave them and then monitor the situation from afar, but the word stakeout was enough to convince him to go on the prowl for parking, this was the closest he’d been to field work in months. Conveniently for them, there was a spot with a perfect sightline into the restaurant without being extremely obvious, especially with the huge binoculars Finn brought along. If it was up to Ben then they’d be on a rooftop with a good vantage point.
“Uh, Rey,” Finn began. “I forgot my wallet. Do you any money for the meter?”
“How did you forget to pack your wallet in that bag of yours?”
“Well, I only remembered to bring the essentials!” Finn snapped.
“And your wallet isn’t essential?” She quipped in return.
“I’ll pay.” If this level of amateurism was what Ben was going to be dealing with for the rest of the night then he was going to need a couple of seconds alone to compose himself anyways. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if he spontaneously combusted in a fit of frustration. “You guys keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.”
“I’ll make this up to you. I swear,” Rey promised, the opportunity to do something like this again was enough for him. They’d never divulged all the details to him, but Ben didn’t mind playing pretend.
Stakeouts weren’t for everyone as evident by Finn’s constant noises of disappointment every time he failed to find whoever they were searching for, meanwhile Rey seemed like she was about to die of sheer boredom. On the other hand, Ben was perfectly fine, peaceful even, feeling right at home in his element.
Although, his tranquility was eventually broken when Finn spoke up. “By the way, Rey, what was your dream about this morning?”
“My dream?” She said absentmindedly.
“Yeah, you said you were having a nice dream when I woke you up.”
In all honesty, Ben wasn’t planning on listening in until color blossomed on her cheeks when she briefly glanced in his direction. She was blushing, and now he couldn’t help but be curious. There was no way her dream was as embarrassing to say aloud as his was, her three buns were practically mocking him. “Oh that, I dreamt that I was eating a really good snack.”
And Ben thought he was bad at lying.
Although, it was convincing enough for Finn who nodded in understanding. “Considering how much you love food, I’m not surprised.” He pointed his thumb in Ben’s direction. “I’m telling you, Ben, last week, I saw her eat like five things of gas station sushi and she didn’t get sick at all. She’s got a sewer stomach.”
Just how exactly was he supposed to respond to that? It was no secret that Rey loved to eat, but he didn’t want to say anything that would imply Ben thought she was a pig when he actually found her ability to digest anything impressive. “That’s…uh…a good trait to have.”
His words seemed to have had the opposite effect of what he’d hoped for, Rey seemed absolutely horrified by his comment instead of flattered. So much, in fact, that she pulled out her phone rather than say anything. You’re a dumbass, Ben Solo.
“They’re here!” Finn proclaimed after a while and toyed around with his binoculars for a second before bringing them back up to his face. “I see you, you little homewrecker.” He let out a giddy chuckle as he spied through the lenses. “This is so cool. It’s like we’re FBI agents or something.”
Ben tried really hard to hold back a snort at the idea of Finn being a secret agent, he had to be one the least inconspicuous people that Ben’s ever met.
“C’mon, Rey. Let’s show Flyboy how to respect women.”
Flyboy? Wait, this was Operation Flyboy? All this secrecy for something as simple as stalking someone on a date, Ben had envisioned something far more thrilling ever since Rey snuck into that shady van earlier.
“Here? We can’t do it here, it’ll cause a huge scene.” At least one of them had some situational awareness.
“That’s okay. I brought disguises.” A bundle of clothes fell into Rey’s lap. If those disguises were anything like the one he wore at Takodana which, judging by the colorful fabrics, they were then this mission was doomed to fail. “I didn’t bring one for Ben though.”
There was a blond wig peeking out from the duffel bag and it seemed like Finn was really contemplating handing it over. Hell no. “I am taking no part in this.”“Then you’re the getaway driver.” How nice, a promotion from chauffeur.
“Finn, I don’t think this is the best idea,” Rey admitted. Unless it was their goal to for things to go south then she was completely right.
“Do you have anything better?”
Don’t go along with this, Rey. “Well, no.”
“Fucking hell,” Ben muttered, he couldn’t listen to this half-assed scheme anymore. “Piece of advice, you never confront the target in public, that’s an easy way to get compromised. Wait until they’re separated from the public, no witnesses. Only then should you move in, but remember to be careful as to not to tip them off. Patience is key and the element of surprise is important. Catch them off guard and then you’re golden.”
Ben realized his mistake when the both of them just stared at him in awe. Shit. He should really keep his mouth shut from now on. “I read a lot of crime novels.”
They wisely heeded his advice, deciding to wait until after their target concluded their business inside the restaurant to make their move. Rey smacked his shoulder repeatedly when the man and his date returned to their car. “Ben, follow them.”
“Why did I agree to this?” Ben didn’t even know who them was or why exactly the guy needed a lesson in respecting women. He should’ve left as soon as he discovered this wasn’t as ominous as he’d lead himself to believe. But just because he was sure this wasn’t anything serious, didn’t mean he was going to do a crap job tailing that vehicle. If they got caught then it wasn’t going to be because of him.
“GPS says we’re heading towards a cemetery,” Finn informed them, handing his phone to Rey to show her. A nighttime trip to a cemetery, things were getting interesting.
“Why would he take his date to a cemetery? I thought he said he was going to take her home?”
“He’s either into some kinky stuff or he’s going to murder her.”
“I don’t know which is worse.”
Kink. In Ben’s opinion, kink was worse. At least, you didn’t have to dive too deep into someone’s psyche to comprehend their motive for murder, but a kink like this was just…no.
“Okay, game plan,” Finn started and pulled out a flashlight when Ben finally settled on parking in front of a random grave after driving around for a bit so unless he was, in actuality, horrible at his job, then they’d just looked like a couple of people visiting someone. “I’m in charge of lighting and Rey, you’re the camerawoman.”
She frowned. “But I wanted to carry the torch.”
“Too bad. I called dibs.” Finn shook his head and gave her a look as if that was the most unbelievable thing either of them have said all night. ”Ben, you stay here just in case he is a murderer and we need to escape.”
The chances of that being the case were astronomically small, and yet Ben made sure to position himself so he could see them when they confronted their target from his seat. The distance wouldn’t be ideal, but he’d still be able to leap into action to help Rey—and Finn—if anything were to go sour.
“I shouldn’t be here,” he mumbled to himself as he watched them creep away from Luke’s car and across a couple rows of graves, and yet here he was, breaking the rules set in place by his employers and the ones he set for himself. There was no point in dwelling over it any longer, this whole night was going to be omitted from his report anyways.
He released a puff of air when he saw them spring out from behind a large headstone, surprising the unknown man and his woman while Finn was blinding them with the flashlight at the same time. They certainly deserved some credit, Finn and Rey managed to maintain the element of surprise like he instructed them to do.
Something was off, the four of them seemed to be going back and forth and curiosity got the better of him. He wasn’t sure how morally wrong it was to tap into Rey’s phone for personal purposes, but, like the bond, what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.
Unfortunately for him, the cell signal in this area wasn’t the most reliable so naturally, the connection between their phones was dodgy at best. It was difficult to overhear their conversation with static constantly interfering with almost every sentence.
The first thing he managed to hear was, “…cheating with your coworker?” Suddenly, Finn’s comment about teaching Flyboy to respect women made sense.
The unknown man was perplexed. “Cheating?” Ben was suddenly intrigued, which was odd since he’d never been interested in other people’s relationship issues. Whenever Hux would bitch and moan about his latest romantic failure, Ben would just tune the annoying man out. “What…you talking about?” Yes, please provide more details, knowing the entire story would be nice because he could barely hear shit.
But what he could hear was Rey’s anger rising. “You know…what…”
“…really don’t.” This guy was either a great actor or he was genuinely confused, Ben’s hunch was on the latter. If so, then this was not going to go good for Finn and Rey.
“Guys…what’s going on?” Ben recognized that voice. He’d only heard it a handful of times, but he knew it belonged to Rose Tico from his dad’s garage shop. What was she doing here?
Finn barely let her finish her sentence. “Don’t…talk…marriage ruiner.” Marriage what now?
“How could you cheat on…?” Rey practically snarled, whatever was going on over there was clearly agitating her. “…your soulmate! You’re supposed to be with each other forever!”
Ben’s stomach dropped.
Forever. That hadn’t even occurred to him. Could he handle forever? Could she? Almost everything she knew about him so far was based on a lie. It was a terrible foundation to build a future together upon, assuming he’d tell her of course. “Stop thinking about it,” he murmured, shifting his focus back to the drama that was currently unfolding. It was basically a low budget soap opera by this point.
“I…can’t believe…you’re with this Rose girl!” That was a bit rude. From what Ben could recall from that day when Han took him to the Falcon while he was drugged up on painkillers, Rose was a nice girl. There was nothing that would lead him to believe that she was someone’s mistress.
Impressively, she didn’t seem perturbed by the accusations at all. “I’m right here.”
“I think have an idea of what’s going on…when I said…was gone….she...gone.” This static was being even more of a nuisance than Luke was when he invaded Ben’s apartment. It was pissing him off, Ben was missing vital information. If only he had some way of boosting the signal, but he lacked the proper equipment to do so with. Breathing exercises, Benjamin. He reminded himself as he grew more irritated, needing to calm down and pay attention to what he was starting to refer to as his unofficial mission, in reality, he was really being nosy, a trait he inherited from his mother.
“Oh my god, you murdered her,” Finn whispered and was followed by a feminine gasp, he presumed that was Rey.
“But why is Rose here?”
“…my sister’s grave is close by.” That certainly explained why. Ben wasn’t aware she had a sister, then again he barely knew her. “…They died in the same crash.” Now he felt like he’d been insensitive when he instructed his parents use a car crash to fool people about the injuries he sustained. In his defense, going around telling people Oh, yeah, my son was captured and tortured, wouldn’t have been a good decision.
Maybe he should have gone with something like falling off a mountain.
“Why would…I…date…Rose?” They really had the audacity to question something like that in front of her? When she was visiting her sister’s grave and mourning? That was beyond inconsiderate, don’t kick her when she’s already down.
Where did all this compassion come from? This was not normal. Despite the fact that they were the same entity, Ben wasn’t completely heartless like Kylo Ren, but still, it wasn’t something that he experienced often.
“…we heard your phone call …flowers…a restaurant. You…said…you were going back to your place…” Yeah, he could see how that could cause a misunderstanding, but if they just communicated and cleared things up like adults then none of this would have happened. Then he remembered that Rey was only nineteen, barely old enough to be considered an adult, and although she did seem more responsible that most people her age, she still lacked the maturity of someone with more life experience.
“She’s…my new...” The static cut him off and Ben muttered some curse words, holding himself back from finally snapping and wondered how much trouble he would get in if he destroyed government property.
“… you’re… dating Rose?” Ben wanted to hit his head into the steering wheel. Rey, you’re supposed to be the bright one.
“No,” replied a masculine voice. “But I…have…date with Kaydel.”
“With Kaydel?”
Kaydel? How did that happen?
Rose was equally confused as the rest of them. “…You didn’t tell me that.”
“How could you…date…Kaydel?” What? There was nothing wrong with Kaydel, she’s hard working and loyal. His mother, who was an extremely good judge of character, adored her to the point where Leia tried to set them up years ago. They both adamantly refused and it was never brought up again. “Who’s Kaydel?”
“My…coworker,” Rey deadpanned. Geez, was Han running a dating service out of the Falcon or something?
“…stop seducing Rey’s coworkers!” Finn bellowed, the volume of which somehow caused the audio to crackle and become even worse. It got to the point where Ben repeatedly hit the infuriating phone against his palm as if that would fix it.
His efforts were in vain, it showed no sign of recovering. “I’m not—all right…I’m… explain…soulmates.” Maker, it was cutting off almost every other word now. Garbage, it was absolute garbage. “Stuff…internet can’t even…”
“…soulmate is…a partner, you’re tethered in ways… color and you aren’t prepared for any of it. You can actually feel…emotions, influence…thoughts…if your soulmate is in extreme pain then you can feel it too.” Ben could tell this was difficult for him to talk about. “I learned…the hard way.”
Ben cut off the transmission after that. It felt like things were getting far too personal over there for him to listen in on in good conscience. “You’re growing soft, Kylo Ren,” he sighed, almost disappointed with himself, a few months ago he wouldn’t even have given a shit about respecting people’s privacy. As a field operative, his motto was do whatever needed to be done and espionage wasn’t even close to being the most despicable thing he’d done during his career.
Speaking of which, he still needed to write his report. Luckily for him, he could do it electronically through his phone and made sure to be as vague as possible during the days he’d made contact with her…which was actually all of them in some way or another. Paperwork was always a drag, but at least it’d distract him from the fact that Rey’s friend basically confirmed that some parts of Rey’s mind were leaking into his own. That could possibly explain why he was being a bit more pleasant around people lately, her joyful personality was colliding with his asshole one.
If that was the case then shouldn’t the opposite be true as well? Looking back on earlier, Rey had been uncharacteristically short-tempered and curt when it came to her friend. Even Finn had gotten a taste of her grouchiness back at the restaurant when he admitted to forgetting his wallet even though it was a common occurrence.
“Wait…” Ben breathed, his report completely forgotten in light of his recent realization. In some way, her behavior was mildly reminiscent of his own.
Oh no.
Was he inadvertently ruining her?
He looked up to see that Rey had split off from her group, hurrying back to the car. Ben shut off his work phone, she didn’t need to know that he was essentially logging in his stalker activities, tossing it into the glove compartment while his own cell laid in the cup holder.
“Did your friend end up being a murderer?” Ben asked after unlocking the passenger side door for her. Obviously not, but he still felt the need to poke fun at the fact that she and Finn actually convinced themselves they were at risk of being killed.
“What?”
“Finn didn’t come back. I’m assuming he met a gruesome death.”
“Oh no! He didn’t die, he just went with our friend and…” she trailed off, “you’re joking.” It was meant to come across as teasing.
“I could see you guys from here.” He pointed out the windshield in the direction of the grave that her friend’s car was leaving. “No murders happened so I guess everything went alright.”
“I just accused one of my closest friends of infidelity, but it turns out that his soulmate is dead.”
He had to choose his next words carefully, show that he had no knowledge of her regrettable behavior tonight. “That’s…”
“Bad, I know,” she finished for him, unintentionally making it easier for him, and bad was one way of putting it. “He said he wasn’t mad, but I feel horrible. He told us all these things about soulmates and how shattered he was when she died.”
“Must have been really rough.” Another reason to hide her existence from Snoke, no doubt that monster would use her against him. There was no way Ben was about to let anything happen to her. He reached for the key in the ignition.
“I can’t even imagine. It must feel so weird to be connected so intimately. Emotions and thoughts.” You have no idea. “He even said something about sharing dreams.”
His hand stilled, he hadn’t heard that part and his eyes drifted to her hair, connecting the dots. He was an moron for thinking it was a mere coincidence, nobody wears their hair like that. It hadn’t been solely his dream, it was hers as well. Oh no. Maker, he almost kissed her. “Sounds like an invasion of privacy.” Embarrassment flooded him for no reason, it wasn’t like she knew. He briefly wondered what would have happened if their eyes had met during his time as her hairdresser then he turned the key and the engine came to life. “Should I take you home now?”
“Yes, please.” She settled down in her seat and put on her seat belt. “Thank you for today, by the way. I know we’re a little crazy.”
“Well, the people in my life aren’t exactly mentally sound either. You know my father.” Her friends were relatively tame compared to his dysfunctional family and Hux. Not to mention the fact that his job basically revolved around dealing with psychotic criminals, at least it did before the incident, but his family still managed to outdo them.
“You know, we’re doing game night. There’s going to be pizza and I’m sure the others wouldn’t mind if you came along,” she offered as they exited the cemetery and quickly added, “If you want, of course.”
Much to his displeasure, the thought of spending more time with her was appealing but ultimately a terrible idea. He shouldn’t get too comfortable around her and her friends. “I—” His phone began to ring, cutting him off before he could come up with an excuse to refuse her invitation. Rey scooped his cell out of the cup holder and stared at the screen. “Just let it go to voicemail.” There were only a couple of people who called him and Ben didn’t want to talk to any of them at the moment.
The phone rang continuously with barely any pauses between calls. To his horror, Rey, who seemed to be getting increasingly annoyed with every chime, eventually gave in and picked up. “Hux, he’s driving so stop calling.”
Of course it would be him.
“Wha—who is this?” Hux asked loudly, utterly bewildered at the fact someone other than Ben answered.
Please don’t tell him your name. ”Rey, don’t—” Ben started, low enough so that Hux couldn’t hear him.
“I’m Ben’s friend.”
“His friend?” That asshole was about to laugh at him, Ben could hear it in his voice. “Kylo doesn’t have any friends.” There was a brief pause as Hux started putting things together then incredulously blurted out, “Wait, are you the girl?”
Hux, you slimy orange bastard. “Rey, turn off the phone.” Ben quickly interjected, reaching over to grab it from her hand, but she deftly switched it to her other hand.
“Both hands on the wheel,” she told him with a triumphant smile before she shifted her focus away from him and back to Hux. Ben seriously needed to put an end to this before Hux could get enough ammunition to mock him merciless. “Sorry about that, Hux.”
“Please, call me Armitage.”
“Okay, Armitage.”
What the fuck? Hearing Hux’s name come from her lips was sickening and had him so taken aback that he accidently jerked the steering wheel causing the car to swerve slightly. No, they were absolutely not allowed to be on a first name basis. “Don’t call him that. That’s disgusting. He’s disgusting.”
“What was that!?” Hux screamed through the speaker followed by barking. “Cease your excessive yapping, you hyena.” That dog was going to be rewarded with a plethora of treats when they got home. “Ren, come get your hellhound. It’s destroyed half my home and is annoying my neighbors, but more importantly, it’s annoying me! Pick it up now or I’m giving it away. ”
“You do it and then I’ll kill you.” It was not an empty threat. Despite the fact that he’d only had her for a couple of days, Ben’d grown attached to that dog, probably because she reminded him of himself in some ways. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Sooner rather than later Ren.” The phone went silent. Asshole.
Rey deflated in her seat, dejected and disappointed. “So, I guess this means no game night.”
“I suppose not.” This was what he wanted, right? Ben should feel relieved, a perfect reason to reject her without hurting her feelings fell into his lap so why was a part of him unhappy with the outcome.
It must feel so weird to be connected so intimately. Emotions and thoughts.
Stupid bond.
Ben, why did you help me tonight?” Rey asked when they arrived at the Raddus,
Why indeed. At first, he told himself it was his job and then he justified it further by saying he could protect her if it was necessary, but was that truly all? He doubted it. “I’m not entirely sure yet.” This turmoil was tearing him apart. What was the right choice? Was there one?
She smiled.
And it was stunning.
She really is a lamp.
Fuck.
But he hadn’t expected her to silently reach over and take his hand in hers. Rey’s hand wasn’t completely soft, obviously due to months of working with mechanical parts, but it was so small compared to his.
It felt nice, like something lost was finally found. A missing piece to a puzzle.
And when she began to lean in, he didn’t stop her. His mind was too far gone to think rationally anymore.
The trace was broken when the sound of something vibrating broke through the stillness inside the car, causing her to reluctantly pull away and whip out her offending phone from her pocket.
“I think I should go in now,” she told him as she read the message, sounding quite miffed as she said so. Thank the Maker, he did not want to kiss Rey inside of Luke’s rental car, he didn’t want to be reminded of his uncle if it actually had happened. Hell, he shouldn’t be entertaining the idea of kissing Rey period.
There were a lot of things he shouldn’t be doing.
“Are your friends worried?” He asked, acting as if his pulse hadn’t been beating wildly, pleading to whatever greater being was out that she hadn’t noticed.
“Something like that,” Rey answered ambiguously, getting ready to go inside her building, but he didn’t want to her to leave with a simple goodbye.
“Rey.” He called out to her when she put her hand on the door’s handle, making her pause and turn to face him with a perplexed expression.
“Yeah?”
“I like your hair today.” It was the truth. He adored it in his dream and it was just as endearing when he was awake just like the beaming smile and the twinkle in her eyes.
He didn’t drive away until he made sure she made it safely inside her building, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding until she disappeared behind the entrance. It’d been harder to muster up the courage to admit that than he’d thought it’d be.
Rey made him nervous and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
The Supremacy Apartments were far too nice for his liking and probably full of snooty residents like Hux. Ben spent the entire ride over trying to organize his thoughts and ultimately failed. It was only when he was standing in the elevator that he realized his fondness for her hair and smile was all him, it had nothing to do with the bond.
“Shit,” he muttered until his breath.
Ben could hear Nines barking from down the hall. The door flew open before he even moved to knock revealing a disheveled, pissed off man. “You fucker.” He snarled at Ben without any hesitation. Barking resumed and Hux’s eye twitched. “Shut that thing up. It bit me once and chewed up two of my throw pillows.”
“You own throw pillows?”
“Excuse me for wanting my home to look aesthetically pleasing,” Hux quipped. “I bet yours is as good as naked.”
It was true that his apartment was a tad drab, despite Leia’s efforts, but he never saw the point in decorating it since he couldn’t see color and now he just didn’t care enough. “I like my house the way it is.” Ben crossed his arms. “And I’d liked my dog now.”
“Fine, take it.” Hux whistled then yelled, “Beast!”
The dog trotted out of the apartment, ecstatic to see him and circled around his legs before sitting by his feet. “There you are, Nines.”
“Wonderful, you gave it a proper name unlike that rubbish you chose before.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Whatever. Now take its things and leave.” Hux handed him the bag of toys and supplies Ben had given him before he left the office and tried to slam the door shut, but Ben stopped it with his foot. “What the hell, Ren? Can’t you just let me enjoy a couple of hours without your ugly mug?”
“Well, I have to hold back vomit every time I see you so I’ll make this quick.” Ben gritted his teeth, this was going to be hard for him to say. “I need your help with something.”
“Again? Is the great Kylo Ren losing his touch?” Once again, Ben wondered how he managed to put up with this man for all these years without killing him. “What is it this time?”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow.” It wasn’t safe to discuss it now, there posed a risk that the Supremacy had been bugged. “Come to my apartment.”
“Well, what’s in it for me?”
“Coffee for a month.”
“Fine, but you’re going to have to update me on the girl.” If they were going to work together to expose Snoke then perhaps it was time to come clean. He is going to be insufferable when he finds out. Ben reluctantly nodded and Hux gave him an infuriating shit-eating grin as if he’d just come out victorious. The self-satisfying smirk morphed into a sneer. “Why are you still here? Leave. I don’t want to see or hear from you for the rest of the night.”
“The feeling is mutual.” This time he let Hux shut the door in his face and returned to the car.
It must’ve smelled like Luke because it took a lot of coaxing and the promise of treats to get Nines into the back seat without struggling. “It’s okay, you can make a mess in here if you want,” he told her when he pulled away from the curb. “I still don’t know what to do about Rey,” Ben muttered when they reached a stop sign and saw Nines wagging her tail in the rear view mirror. “Yeah? Well, you’re still biased.”