A Galaxy Quite Close to Home

Chapter 36: Ghosts

Finn was dragged into the consciousness by a hard slap to the chest from Pava and he jerked his head up, snapping into attention after having fallen asleep in the passenger's seat. He looked at her with bleary eyes and sat up from his slightly slouched position.

"WHat?" He grumbled and cleared his throat, realizing he felt much less hungover than he had been the first half of the ride.

"Just got a call in that three people of the same description checked into a motel a few

miles outside of Nashville, time to switch places though you've gotten your nap." Finn looked around at where they were. Parked in a gas station in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, the sun starting to lower over the horizon, he sighed.

"How long have we been on the road?" He unbuckled and got out of the car, stretching his legs and sighing at the comforting feeling of solid ground instead of Pava's ridiculous driving. He was surprised he had fallen asleep, probably wouldn't have if he hadn't been so tired from the headache.

"Long enough that I don't think it's good for me to drive anymore." Pava said over the top

of the car and stretched her arms high above her head, yawning widely and then leaning against the body of the car. Finn smiled and motioned for her to wait at the car while he went inside to use the bathroom and picked up a few things. The door jingled loudly, alerting the old man behind the counter who shot Finn a crooked tooth grin and nodded politely. Finn smiled back and asked for the restroom, being directed towards the back of the shopping area and he hurried to it. Damn all that water. Looking in the mirror he realized just how he looked, not having bothered to check the mirror on the mad dash out of the apartment. Light stubble grew patchy on his strong jaw and he had dark circles under his eyes despite having slept in the car. He had dreamt about taking down Kylo again and had been terrorized by the image of what it had to have been like for Rey when she had been captured. You need a haircut, man, really. He cleared his throat and splashed water on his face before leaving the toilet and picking up a few cans of Monster, a coffee for himself and a full sized bag of peanut m&ms to share with Pava, knowing they were her favourite.

"You out to catch that criminal?" The man behind the counter questioned as Finn swiped his credit card. He furrowed his brow and watched the man put everything but the coffee in a plastic bag.

"Uh.. yeah how..."

"Standard issue FBI holster, that's how I know you're an agent, and the only reason you'd

be on this route is in pursuit of a criminal who took the same. I'm sure you'll get him. If he wasn't smart enough to disguise himself over state borders then he won't be too difficult." The man smiled and Finn looked at him, impressed.

"You're very intuitive. How'd you know about the case?"

"It's in the news son." He chuckled. Finn nodded and put his card back in his wallet and reached his hand out to shake the man's hand.

"Nice meeting you sir, thanks for the encouragement."

"No problem, always willing to help a fellow agent... well a current agent. I'm retired obviously."

"Your name?" Finn grinned and questioned why the man worked at a gas station instead of living in relative comfort and having a nice retirement. Maybe he does. Maybe he just likes this, meeting people coming in from all over the place.

"Calrissian. Lando Calrissian. You?"

"Finn, Finn Scott." Lando straightened up a little and grinned.

"You're Rey's friend!"

"You know Rey??"

"Well I don't know her I just know of her," Finn tilted his head and chuckled, feeling as if the