Lose Control

Chapter 9

"This isn't a good idea." Alder muttered as he saw Rey walking back over.

Unfortunately she heard him. "What's your plan for getting off this rock then, Jedi? Have you seen a way off with the Force?"

The scorn for the 'mystical force of the universe' was clear in her mockery but deep down he agreed with her slightly. For him, the Force was unhelpful. He looked at the table. "No."

"Then let's get going." She responded, taking control of their escape when it should have been him getting them away.

Finn stood up and started following her with BB-8 and Alder felt a ping of betrayal towards the little droid, why wasn't it following him around? He was the one working on the same team, not that scavenger and Storm Trooper. Shaking off the anger, he gave a sigh and started to follow them... Alder wouldn't let his emotions get in the way of getting back home; he needed to assure his mother he wasn't dead.

"So where's the ship?" He asked, trying to make up for his disagreement over what they were about to do.

"It landed a few minutes ago, I saw the two owners go into that bar." Rey motioned in the general direction of the bar a few buildings down from where they'd been sitting. "Their ship's this way though... I don't think they wanted people to know they were here."

"Is it the First Order?" Finn questioned quickly.

"No, smugglers by the looks of the ship." Rey said and stopped as they rounded a corner. "There it is."

Alder looked over her shoulder and felt the blood leave his face, creating an even paler complexion. It couldn't be, no, out of all the ships in the galaxy why that one? "There aren't any... others... we could steal?"

"The others don't have space for three passengers." She responded.

"Something wrong?" Finn asked as Alder glanced back the way they'd come.

"No, no, this ship is fine... Let's just get this over with." He started walking towards the ship before glancing back at the corner. "Could you keep watch Rey, since you're staying here?"

She walked off instead of responding and he gave one last check to make sure no one was near the ship before casually walking over to it with BB-8 at his heels. Finn joined him a few seconds later and tried to act normally as well, and Alder had to admit the Storm Trooper wasn't doing half bad, though it was lucky he no longer wore his uniform, having changed earlier, otherwise people would see his stiff stance a bit off. The only thing that irked him was the fact Finn was wearing Poe's jacket, it only served to send another reminder of why he had to get back.

"You know, I could just ask to borrow the ship." He mumbled under his breath before finding the lock on the ship's door and using a weak pulse of the force to open the ramp enough to crawl through.

Finn gave him an odd look. "Ask? we don't even know the owner. They could be working for the First Order."

Alder's father definitely didn't work for Kylo Ren or anyone else; he barely helped the Resistance. "Whatever, just get in."

He watched Finn crawl through the door before lowering his hand and gasping as the door shut once more. Just doing that had caused him to lose his breath, the ramp opened again as Finn opened it from the inside; at least the Storm Trooper was useful. A shout came from the corner and Alder turned to see Rey dodge a blast and run towards them, a furry outline following her as the shadows took out the creature's detail... not that he needed to see to know who it was.

"Hurry!" He shouted, checking to make sure BB-8 was on the ship before running to meet Rey and dragging her behind him before using his lightsaber to block another blast.

Chewie let out a confused and irritated sound as he fired again before charging at them again.

Another blaster joined Chewie and Alder heard his father's voice as he turned the corner. "Don't let them get away!"

"Close the door!" He yelled as they reached the ramp and ran on board, a blast grazing his side. "Ah!"

"Alder!" Rey caught him as he staggered. "Finn, get us out of here!"

"How do I fly this?" Finn questioned as he looked at the controls.

Alder shrugged out of Rey's arms and pushed Finn aside. "I can, once we're out of the atmosphere I can put in our destination and autopilot will take over."

"You're bleeding." Finn said before turning to Rey. "I'll go find a medical kit... there has to be one somewhere."

"I'm fine." Alder leaned away from Rey as she took a step towards him. "It's just a graze, I'll be okay."

"It still needs treated." She replied and advanced on him, knowing he had to stay at the controls for a few more minutes as they flew out of Jakku's atmosphere. "Let us see it."

Alder flinched from her touch and risked a glance down as she pulled away his cloak to reveal the bloodied lighter cloth under it. He turned away and looked at the barely visible town below... had it been fate to meet his father or just a coincidence? Jedi didn't believe anything was just by accident but was that true? He looked at BB-8 as the droid followed Finn back over; the man now had a small box in his hands.

"How bad is it?" Finn questioned and joined Rey.

"Grazed but we should probably stitch it and put some bandages over the wound to stop the bleeding." She replied.

Alder scooted away from her again. "You are leaving it alone, I'm not letting either of you poke holes in me with a needle."

"Alder, it could get infected."

"Not your life on the line now is it?" He growled and turned on autopilot so he could leave the seat.

Rey glared at him as he started to walk away. "Yeah, it could be! What happens to us if you die before we get you home? How do we explain to the Resistance that we're allies when we have a dead Jedi in the ship? Tell me that!"

"You have BB-8." His argument was weak.

"That doesn't mean we can let you die."

"I'm not going to die, it's just a graze." Alder repeated before seeing their expression and slumping down in another chair. "Alright... just make it quick..."