Chapter Text
Rey Niima was not having a stellar day. Not that this made for an unusual turn of events in her thirteen years of life or anything. Most of her days living with her foster father Unkar Plutt were bad. These days, though, things just seemed to be getting worse.
When her parents abandoned her at five years old outside Plutt’s garage, social services had just decided to leave her with him since he was already running a group home. It did not take her long to figure out why he did it either. It was all for the money. Far too often, she went without food or properly fitting clothes. After being with him for about three years, things slowly began changing… for the worse. He became physically abusive toward her and the other children under his care. Somehow, he was able to hide this from the authorities.
It really wasn’t until she turned twelve that she started noticing a different kind of behavior aimed at her. The kind that made her very uncomfortable. She began dressing in the most uncomplimentary clothing she could find and staying away from the house as long as possible. Those very attempts were what led to her current situation.
It was a dark and cold December night in Hana City, New York. Plutt was particularly irritated at Rey for coming home from school ten minutes late, and, as punishment, had locked her out of the house for the night. Rey was no stranger to cold and hunger. Sadly, she was getting used to it and was coming to expect it. She did take some solace in the fact that she was just locked out and hungry. At least he had not hurt her like he did a few days ago. The bruises were thankfully well hidden under her winter clothes.
The smells coming from the nearby pizzeria were making her mouth water. She looked longingly through the window at the happy families enjoying the beginning of the Christmas season. If there was one thing she wanted for Christmas this year (and really every year of her life so far), it was a family.
Maybe it was hunger or cold or loneliness that spurred Rey into doing the one thing she swore she would never do: dig through the dumpster for food and anything that might keep her warm. It was in this very embarrassing position that Rey was caught. One minute she was leaning over the edge of the dumpster and the next a deep voice startled her into falling into said pile of garbage.
“Rey? Is that you? Restaurant throw away something of yours?” He sounded amused, but Rey most certainly was not. This was disgusting. The smell was putrid. And what was that squishy item that she just touched?! The worst part? She couldn’t seem to get out. Rey was mortified.
“Would you mind helping me out of here?” Rey chocked out as she tried to avoid throwing up. The next thing she knew two large hands were wrapped under her arms pulling her out of the trash heap. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck so that he could more easily help her.
When she finally had her wits back and was safely on solid ground, she looked up into the face of Ben Solo, her best friend’s foster brother. They had never talked before. She just knew who he was and that Finn thought the world of both of his foster brothers.
Ben was pretty well known in Hana City. His mother and uncle ran one of the most prestigious businesses in the state, and his father was a well-respected police officer. Aside from his family, Ben had made a name for himself. He was the captain of the high school basketball team, and the senior with the highest GPA in the school. Most people assumed that he would go to college on a basketball scholarship and then one day take over as CEO of Skywalker Industries.
It was also widely assumed by all the girls in both the middle and high schools that once he was old enough, he would be considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the state if not the country. If his bank account didn’t qualify him for the position, then his looks surely would. He had the most beautiful, curly black hair and dark brown eyes Rey had ever seen. He was also tall and broad shouldered. Rey probably should have been intimidated by him considering how much bigger than her he was. She barely came past his elbow. For whatever reason, she decided that she would take Finn’s word at face value and trust Ben.
“So you going to answer my question? If they threw out something of yours, I can help you find it. I’m sure your guardians will be wondering where you are so the quicker we work, the better.” He said in a very calm but urgent voice. He was about to step toward the dumpster when he noticed her crying. “Hey. I’m sorry if I freaked you out. Finn and Poe are always telling me that I come off a little too intense sometimes.”
“No. That’s not it. You didn’t freak me out, and I didn’t lose anything in the dumpster other than my dignity. I… um… this is so embarrassing.” She started to cry a little harder, but froze when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the most compassionate pair of eyes she had ever seen. What she saw there gave her the courage to go on before he could say anything else. “I was hungry and that was the only option I had available.” She quickly whispered.
His eyes grew wide as her words hit him. Where were her guardians? Why was she having to find her own food and in a dumpster no less?! He crouched down to her level. “Finn says you are a foster kid too. Where are your guardians?”
“Plutt is back at the house.”
Years of anger management classes were shot to pieces with that one statement. Ben knew how foster homes were supposed to work. Poe had been in the system for all of two months before Han and Leia had adopted him, and Finn was still in the system. Thoughts of adopting him as well had been put to rest when he and Lando took a shine to each other. But Ben knew for sure that Unkar Plutt was supposed to be meeting this girl’s needs so why was she out in the cold, dumpster diving?! If someone had done that to his foster brothers… Breath in the nose; out the mouth, Ben. In the nose; out the mouth. 10, 9, 8…
Rey could tell that Ben was angry, but she did not understand why. This was her problem, and heaven help him if he tried to pull the pity card. Their size difference would make no difference. She would bring him to his knees. Why she even told him any of this to begin with was a mystery to her.
“I’m Ben.” Rey snapped her eyes up to the now standing Ben. He appeared to be calm now, but he was clearly up to something. From what she could tell, he meant her no harm.
“I know. I’m Rey.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you, Rey. Would you like to join me and my family for pizza? I am sure Finn would love to see you.” Whatever Rey was expecting, that was not it; and she was not one to turn down food, especially if she did not have to scavenge for it.
_
“Hey guys, look who I found outside! She is going to join us for dinner. Mom, Dad, can I talk to you real fast?” Ben said in a rush. He was not about to give his family opportunity to protest.
“Ben Solo! What are you doing?” Leia hissed at him as they stepped to the hallway outside the bathrooms. Ben was not sure how to handle this, but he knew what he had to do.
“I found her outside dumpster diving. She said she is one of Plutt’s foster kids. I didn’t say anything to her but I saw bruising on her arms and down her neck that looked like someone had been abusing her. She is clearly underweight. I couldn’t leave her out there like that.”
His parents visibly softened at this as they turned to look back at the table where Rey was laughing at Finn and Poe’s antics. “If that is the case, we need to call child services. Let’s let her eat first.”
_
It was the best pizza Rey had ever had in her life. She was finally warm, and, for the first time in a long time, her stomach was full. Leia had told her to eat as much as she wanted.
“Rey, Han and I would like to talk to you for a minute. Would you mind if we sent these boys to get us hot chocolate across the street so we can talk privately?” Leia whispered to Rey so that they boys would not hear. She did not want to make Rey uncomfortable.
“Sure.” Rey hesitantly responded.
Leia sent Ben, Poe, and Finn across the street to get the hot chocolate. Once they were gone, Leia pinned Rey with a gently but serious look.
“Rey, please understand that we only want to help you. None of what we are about to say is meant to cause you harm. Ben was really worried about you. He told us that you were out back looking for food in the dumpster, and that you are in a group home under the care of a man named Unkar Plutt. Is this true?”
“Yes to both.” Rey was beginning to shake. If Plutt found out that she was talking to the Solo’s and telling them what was going on at the group home, her goose would be well and truly cooked. Worse than the few bruises he had given her yesterday could be done to her.
“Rey,” Han questioned carefully, “Why were you having to look for food in the dumpster? The state gives foster parents money to help cover any and all caretaking costs. Plutt should have enough to make sure you have food. For that matter, where is he? You shouldn’t be out alone like this at night.”
Rey was hesitant to answer. She had never told anyone any of this. Plutt had made her life a nightmare since her parents abandoned her at his junk heap of a garage when she was five. Then her social worker had thought that maybe it was a good idea to leave her in that man’s care. Now that she was getting a little older, Plutt’s attention toward her was changing in ways that she was not comfortable with. If social services got called on him and they couldn’t find anything to have her safely removed from his care, Rey shuddered to think what he might do to her. For this reason alone, she was scared to answer Han’s questions. Apparently though, in her hesitance to answer and her general overall demeanor, she had given them enough to be concerned.
Leia was the first to break the silence. “Rey, has he hurt you? Physically? We want to help you, sweetie, but we can’t if you won’t talk to us.”
Han sent Ben a text and asked him to stall the other two for a couple more minutes so they could talk to Rey. It took them a further five minutes of encouraging and comforting her to finally get Rey to start talking. Needless to say, social services received a call. Plutt was later brought up on charges of child neglect, abuse, misappropriation of funds, and a few other unsavory activities.
Most of the rest of that night was spent with either the police or social services. The Solo family was there for her through it all. Han and Leia were her advocates (“She is NOT going back to Plutt’s house. You better figure something out because we will stay here until you do.”), Poe became her personal comedian (“That’s Plutt? Why does he look like a blob fish?”), Finn was her cheerleader (“There are good foster families out there, Rey! I found one! You will too.”), and Ben was her guardian (“The blob fish – as Poe called him – won’t get anywhere near you, Rey. I won’t let him.”). By the time everything was settled for the night (there would be plenty more to take care of in the morning), Rey was falling asleep between Ben and Finn in the backseat of Han’s old Cherokee as she was being driven to her temporary foster home with the Solo’s.