A/N: I'm just uploading them both because of my screw up lol. This one comes after "Ruined"
A cool breeze blows across the room and the curtains billow out, brushing against Rey's hand which hangs over the edge of the bed. She peels her eyes open, feeling the effects of the late-night talking to and sitting with Vicrul downstairs.
What he had admitted to her hand consumed her thoughts all night, and she spent more time staring at the ceiling than actually sleeping after she had returned to bed. The other side of the bed is empty and Ben had obviously pulled the sheets back up to the pillow when he had snuck out earlier.
Stretching her legs out under the blankets, she flexes her arms and legs, getting in a good morning stretch and yawning.
A crack rings out through the air and she bolts up in the bed, wondering if she actually heard what sounded like a gunshot or if her hearing had been altered by her yawn. A second crack rings out followed by a cheer from a man.
She rushes over to the window, pulling the curtains back, and looks across the manicured lawn that leads to the woods, sporting Ben and Vicrul with their guns shooting at a target. Closing the curtains again, she rolls her eyes with a smile and turns around to get changed into a pair of jeans and an extra sweater she had bought while shopping with Zori two days ago while Ben was on a conference call.
The men turn and look at Rey as she walks towards them, one hand shoved in her pocket, the other holding a mug of hot coffee. Ben wears blue jeans with a red flannel pulled over a sweatshirt while Vicrul wears jeans as well and a sweatshirt, two things she didn't even know if he owned or not.
"You brought me coffee?" Ben teases and leans down to give her a kiss.
"Get your own," she teases back as he takes a small sip and hands it back to her with a wink.
"Did we wake you?" Vicrul asks as he loads a rifle with shells and lines back up to shoot.
"No, I had just woken up because the room was freezing from someone insisting we keep the windows open despite it being the beginning of November," Rey says as a stab at Ben again.
"Nothing beats the air in the country in the fall," Ben reasons and picks up a gun Rey has never seen from one of the cut stumps that are clearly normally used for the fire pit a few steps away.
"Careful with that one, it has some kick," Vicrul warns and takes his stance to shoot. He pulls the trigger and hits the target, each shot moving closer to the center of the target.
"You forget who you're talking to," Ben points out as he switches spots with Vicrul and Rey moves to the side to watch him better.
Her heart kicks up as she watches him, his eyes trained on the target, his jaw set, and his hand caressing the gun in front of his face. With swift movements, he fires one shot right after another, his eyes unblinking and one singular chunk of hair falling across his forehead.
"Touché," vicrul laughs and sits back on an empty stump as Ben motions like he's brushing dust off his shoulders.
"So where's everyone else?" Rey asks, noting the completely quiet house and empty rooms when she left she came downstairs.
"Qi'ra and the minions are gone, Kuruk is at the store," Vicrul explains and picks up his thermos from the ground.
"I love how you call them her minions," Ben says, taking a seat opposite him and pulling another stump over for Rey.
"I used to call you her minion so don't get too cocky over there."
"Well that's rude," Ben smiles and looks down at Rey who is just enjoying seeing him actually be friendly with someone. Everyone had been calling Vicrul Ben's best friend, but Rey had yet to see evidence of them being that close.
"So where did they go?" Rey asks, swirling her coffee in the mug.
"Back to Chicago to see if they can intercept the FBI and keep them from getting too much information," Vicrul explains.
"I cleared them doing this, not that I needed to, Qi'ra doesn't really report to anyone," Ben adds.
"For the time being, we're isolating here, not getting involved with anything, and keeping you two low profile."
"Why about clothes? I only had two days worth of clothes," Rey points out.
"Cardo and Ushar got Christie to help pack up some season-appropriate clothes for you since though two are clueless and she took Chewie with her," Ben tells her. "They'll be dropping off the clothes on the way to help Qi'ra since they're not needed here right now."
"Ah," Rey acknowledges and looks around the expansive yard. "So how long are we here for?"
"We don't have an exact plan, but we're thinking a minimum of a couple of weeks," Vicrul explains. "We need them to lose interest a touch before we can go back."
"We can work remotely, Christie is sending us manuscripts and will be communicating with us safely," Ben assures Rey, running his hand in small circles on her back.
"How do we know we can trust Christie though? What if she's just another Billie?" Rey counters.
"Because Phasma is one of us," Vicrul responds, fiddling with a pistol in his hands.
"What?" Rey whispers. "I don't understand..." she looks up at Ben.
"She works for us," Ben reiterates. "She is actually another Billie, but on our side. She's the one who found out Hux was a spy."
"Is there anyone who isn't involved?" Rey laughs, shaking her head in disbelief.
"There's plenty," Vicrul laughs.
"Crazy mob shit," Rey mumbles and rolls her eyes with a smile and elbows Ben.
—
Lying on his back, Ben stares at the ceiling over him and listens to the sound of Rey's breathing next to him. Her limbs twitch a little as she drifts off and her breath slowly evens out signifying she's asleep.
Waiting twenty more minutes until she's hopefully in deep sleep, Ben slips out of the bed as quietly as possible, slipping his jeans and sweatshirt back on, and going downstairs to meet Kuruk.
"She's asleep," Ben says to Vicrul as he laces his boots up, Kuruk waiting in the open door. "We'll hopefully be back by the time she wakes up."
"And if you're not?" Vicrul asks.
"We went for a drive and to get coffee," Ben says shrugging his coat on and ruffling his. "She's a deep sleeper, she won't be awake for a while."
"Weak excuse but okay," Vicrul mumbles and locks the door behind them as they sneak out.
Ben leans forward, attaching his phone to the mount on the dash with the GPS already set, noting the time on the dash that reads 12:10 am as Kuruk puts the car in drive and pulls down the long driveway.
—
Leia rolls over in her bed, glancing at the clock that reads 2:25 am and is casting a blue hue across the floor. The trees rustle outside the window and a few branches tap against the window.
The glass on her bedside table is empty, so she crawls out of bed, wrapping herself in her sweater and slipping her slippers onto her feet. The old stairs of the house creak as she walks down them carefully in the dark, the downstairs void of any sound.
She glances into her office, the moon streaming through the window and illuminating the furniture, and continues down the hallway. As she pours the water from the pitcher in the fridge, she works to shake away the feeling that there was a figure sitting in her chair in the office, and it's just her paranoid mind trying to get the best of her.
Heart thudding in her chest, she closes the fridge quietly and turns back towards the office, reaching to grab the small gun she has hidden in a drawer in case there really was someone in the office.
"Mom," a voice says and she turns quickly, banging her hip on the open drawer, and dropping the glass on the ground.
"Damn it, Benjamin," she whispers as she clutches her hip and the counter, trying to catch her breath. "What are you doing here?"
"Why were you at the hotel yesterday?" Ben asks, his arms crossed in front of his body and leaning against the door frame.
"What?" Leia asks and flips the pendant lights over the island on casting light across her son's face.
"The raid, you were there," he snaps and Leia stands up straighter, wrapping her sweater around her tighter, not appreciating his tone.
"I was," she confirms, her gaze steady.
"Well what the fuck mom?"
"Don't you dare speak to me like that," Leia raises her voice a touch. "Look if you want to talk, let talk, but you're not going to sit here and swear at me."
Ben stares at her, his eyebrows pinched together but Leia doesn't budge, just stares back in challenge. "Fine," he concedes and walks to the kitchen table to sit down.
Leia busies herself with pouring two more glasses of water before stepping over the broken glass and joining him at the table. She sets the glass in front of him and his eyes watch her as she sits down, taking her time to get settled in the chair.
"So?" Ben asks, annoyed by his mother's calm composure and slow movements.
"So," she repeats and sits back studying his face.
"Are you really working with the FBI?"
"I am," she confirms and nods, her arms still crossed. "Have been for a while."
"Did you know Rey and I were at the hotel when the raid was planned?"
"I did."
Ben raises his eyebrows, realizing his mom set him up. "Why didn't you warn us then?"
"I hired Rey hoping I could use her to help get you out," Leia explains, running her fingers along the moisture building up on the walls of the glass in front of her. "Instead of getting you out, you conned her into joining you and I lost you both."
"So you tried to get us arrested? That was your brilliant solution?"
"Ben, don't get angry."
"You almost got us arrested when we were just trying to help," he argues.
"How was that helping?"
"Rey joined me so we could shut the Galtics down once Palpatine passed, and then work with Rey's dad to shut down the First Order. We all knew Palpatine wasn't going to give me power without her."
Leia stares at him, her face shocked and thoughts running wild. "Why didn't you tell me that?"
"Because you would have hated the plan," he points out and Leia chuckles to herself.
"That's true, I would have."
Leia watches her son who scans the room while he chews on the inside of his cheek which she knows means he's deep in thought.
-
"Why was it so easy for you to try and trap us?" Ben finally asks.
"It wasn't easy. It was one of the hardest decisions I've made, but," Leia trails off and stares at the table. "You can't always save those you love."
"What do you mean?"
"You have to let them be held accountable for their own actions," she explains looking back up at him.
"I guess," Ben acknowledges. "You've always been good at letting me learn my lesson."
"You're a lot like your father, you have to learn the hard way."
"Yeah," Ben sighs, pushing away the ache in his heart that always forms when someone compares him to his father. "So what do we do now?" Ben asks to change the subject.
"Set up the trap by scheduling a meeting with Jabba and Snoke," she says. "Ewan and I will handle the rest."
"Can we trust Ewan?"
"I'd proceed with caution, he didn't know his daughter was involved and is angry with you right now," Leia warns.
"He'll be even more pissed when he finds out we're engaged," Ben mumbles, peaking up at his mom.
"I told him already," Leia admits.
"What? Why?"
Leia gives him an apologetic look, "I didn't know you two didn't tell them."
"Mom...." Ben groans and leans back, running his hands through his hair.
Leia watches as Ben keeps his head hung back and looks down the hallway upside down. With a sudden movement, he sits up and turns in his chair, squinting down the dark hallway at the hooks by the door.
"Is that dad's jacket?"
"What are you talking about?" Leia responds, keeping her face straight while Ben gets up and walks down the hallway, clicking the lights on. He runs the thick leather of the jacket between his fingers and then turns back to Leia.
"This is dad's," Ben says more confidently. "He came to see me a year ago and was wearing this. Why is it here?"
"Are you sure it's the same one?"
"Mom, why is it here?" Ben repeats his voice raising and Leia doesn't respond, just stays seated at the table. "Is he here?" Ben says quieter, his eyebrows raised in disbelief again.
"Ben," Leia pleads.
"He's here isn't he?" Ben ignores her and goes up the stairs, skipping every other step, his boots booming on the old stairs. "Dad!" he yells flinging the bathroom door opened followed by his old bedroom door, then moves onto his Mom's room. He throws the door open, expecting him to be there but is met by an empty room.
"Ben," a low voice says and he steps out in the hallway, his dad standing on the other end, the stairs in between them.
"What are you doing here?" Ben snaps at him.
"I live here," Han explains calmly but Ben is consumed by anger and doesn't want to hear it.
"No you don't, you haven't lived here since you walked out on Mom and me when I was little and started the awful pattern of showing up for a while and then disappearing without a word."
"I'm sorry Son," Han nearly whispers.
"You left without any warning and left me to help mom pick up the pieces. You were gone and left me to watch as she slowly stopped caring when you left. So that begs the question, of why the fuck you're back?"
"Can we just talk about this?" Han asks, stepping forward.
"No, I have nothing to say to you," Ben responds as he turns to make his descent down the stairs, finding his mom at the bottom waiting for them, her hands twisted in front of her from the stress and worry. "Bye mom," Ben whispers as leans down to kiss her cheek before flinging the front door open and slamming it behind him.
Kuruk is parked around the corner under a large tree casting a shadow from the street light, allowing it to blend in. "All good?" Kuruk asks as Ben gets into the car and slams the door.
"Just go," Ben grumbles and buckles his seat belt before ramming his fist into the dash three times.
"Want to talk about it?"
"No," Ben grumbles again and leans his head back on the seat while he focuses on the motion of the car and tries to forget what just happened.