A Galaxy Quite Close to Home

Chapter 4: Han

"Rey! Rey wake up!" Finn gently shook her, looking back and forth between her and the angry old man that stood outside his side of the truck. Rey opened her eyes and grumbled.

"What the hell Finn it's like four in the morning if you are fucking waking me up to ask me where to go take a piss I'll kill you. You have a dick. Just go pee." Finn blushed lightly and shook his head.

"No. Rey, this is actually important. Look." he nodded at the man and Rey scrambled to sit up. She jumped out of the truck and went over to the man, chest puffed out in confidence and shoulders back. Finn listened curiously.

"Ha-Han!" she greeted him. He kept the same grimace as he eyed her.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to find some place else to sleep. Months ago!"

"I uh... well... I didn't exactly think you'd be coming back." she rubbed the back of her neck nervously. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Well I am. I need this truck. It was mine some time ago and I've found the parts to fix it." he waved his hand at the truck and re-crossed his arms. Rey looked a little heartbroken.

"Oh.. well.. alright. As long as you aren't going to scrap it." a look crept across his face that was an indiscernible mix between annoyance, pity and sadness.

"No. Never. Not my baby." he put his hand on the hood and smiled. Rey and the man, apparently his name was Han, shook hands and she sadly walked back over to her door.

"Come on Finn. I'm being evicted." Rey picked up her bag and shoved everything she had inside of it, carrying her bat in her left hand and doing one last sweep. Finn hopped out and kept little BB in his pocket. There was a certain sadness in her eyes as they walked away and Finn looked back at Han, angry that he had just kicked her out like that. The older man was surveying the truck and making sure it was alright. The thing was a bucket of bolts anyway. Just as they walked out of the yard he looked up, making eye contact with Finn. Something in man's face softened.

"Hey!" he called to them and Rey stopped.

"What is it?" Han put his hands on his hips and looked down for a second before sighing.

"You two need a lift anywhere?"

Three hours later Finn and Rey were sitting inside a bar with Han. He was making some deal with the woman who ran the place. Finn was drinking a beer and Rey was still under-aged, sitting there bored and feeling out of place. BB was mewing constantly, disliking the bar in its entirety. They weren't exactly sure how they ended up there, or why Han had suddenly agreed to help them out so much, but they weren't really complaining. He had taken Finn to a real doctor, gotten them both to a place where they could wash up and fed them dinner. Not just a bag of Doritos this time.

"Finn?"

"Hm?" he looked at her, being pulled out of a deep thought. She reached across the table and took the beer from him.

"You aren't supposed to drink with a concussion." she raised an eyebrow and took a sip. It wasn't like she hadn't had alcohol before. Finn frowned by conceded, knowing she was probably right. She was awfully smart for a homeless girl.

The truth was, she was practically a genius. She had gotten straight A's through all of school, despite being tossed from one foster home to another and being kicked out at fourteen, completely on the streets on her own. Everything she knew about cars was self taught. She remembered very little about her parents. They disappeared when she was really little, leaving her all alone. For some reason she always thought they would return, as if they would even know where to find her. She didn't live in the same city anymore.

"You're underage though." he chimed, a grin on his face. Rey shrugged.

"Better than having a concussion." she winked and finished the beer. They sat in silence for a while before the bell on the door jingled. Finn turned and looked at who had walked in. He immediately pulled back and muttered under his breath.

"Shit..."

"What?"

"It's them again." Rey looked past him and saw who he was talking about.

"Damn..." she whispered and bit her lip, looking down at the table as if the wooden surface would give her an answer as to how to get out of the situation.

At the bar, two men approached Han and the woman behind the counter, showing them a picture. The older man's stance changed, moving from one of casual relaxation to rigid expectation. Rey couldn't tell what they were saying but she knew immediately that they were looking for Finn. Han hurried back to the table and slid in next to Finn.

"What he fresh hell did you two get yourselves into??" he demanded quietly. "Ya know what? I don't even care. I gotta get your asses out of here." he looked back up to the bar. The men had sat down and were looking around.

"How exactly are we going to do that?" Rey whispered and Han waved a hand at her to shut up.

"Follow me on the count of 3... 3..2...1." he got up and hurried to the back of the room, Finn and Rey right behind him, and walked right into the kitchen. They hurried past the cooks and servers and towards the office. A wooden door came into sight and Han rushed them through it and out into the street behind the building. The three of them ran to his truck and hopped in, driving away quickly with the old pickup being towed behind them.

"Now, Finn, would you please explain to us why a gang is looking for you?" Han asked angrily, looking at the rear view mirror to see if they were being tailed. Rey turned her head fast, looking at Finn with surprise. Her eyes portrayed something of hurt. Finn sighed and let his shoulders droop.

"I.. was trying to uh... be one of them.. but.. they wanted my initiation to be killing a man. An innocent man. I lost my nerve. Couldn't do it." he could feel Rey shift, trying to move away from him unconsciously. He could feel his heart break a little.

"You know you won't get away from them without getting out of state, right?" Finn nodded, listening to the wiser man's words.

"Yeah... I know..." he looked at Rey but she didn't look at him.

"I'll get you as far as the state border. After that you're on your own." Finn nodded in agreement. Han was a good guy, even if he was a little rough on the edges. And old. Very old.