Learning to Fly - A Star Wars Fanfiction - Part One of the "Balance" Trilogy

Morgan

    Time moved unbearably slow. Morgan paced her room, disassembling and reassembling her blaster to entertain the nervous energy flowing through her. The sheets of her bed began to float as she stared out the small window at the top of the wall, absent-minded. She barely noticed. Her thoughts were far, far away. Several times she heard Ben's voice, growing more insistent, but as long as she blocked it out, it was nothing but a dull brush against her mind, the annoying buzz of an insect.

    And then she heard him say it.

    Kayden.

    It caught her by surprise and, before she could help it, his voice came barreling through her mental barrier and he materialized in her room, mid-sentence.
    "- will be waiting -" he froze, noticing her, then collected himself, straightening. "Finally," he sighed. "Did you hear any of that? Or do I have to go through it all again -"
    "Get out of my head," Morgan snapped, closing her eyes and straining to block him out. He stood there, waiting, and when she opened her eyes, he was still there. The corner of his mouth twitched up into a small smirk.
    "Good effort, but it might take you a bit more than that to block me," he told her. "I'm sure you've spoken with my mother by now?"
    "I knew it," she spat. "You set me up. You've been watching me, tracking me..."
    "Your intelligence is astounding."
    "Why? Why can't you just leave me alone?"
    He frowned.
    "Last I remember, you were relieved to hear from me again," he pointed out.
    "Who are you, Ben?" He was silent. Morgan crossed her arms. "Really? You can't answer that one, simple question? I've trusted you time and again, let you lead me into this, this... Scheme of yours, or whatever, and I'm asking you to tell me who you are and you won't do that? Come on." She stared at him. Nothing. Then he spoke.
    "I don't know," he closed his eyes and, for a minute, Morgan was back on the Ring, holding her radio close to her ear, straining to hear everything the boy who called himself Ben had to say. "But I know what I am. I'm trying to fix that. And I'm asking you," he bit his lip. "Really, really asking you right now, if you are willing to help me."
    "I barely know you -"
    "You used to," he reminded her. "Do you really trust Jay Russo, a boy you've known for a week, more than you trust me?"
    "A boy that's been honest with me," she retorted. "And a boy that hasn't been reading through my thoughts, mind you."
    "Has he?" he asked, ignoring the last comment. "What do you know about him?"
    "I know he's a Resistance pilot. I know that he's loyal to his cause, to his beliefs, to his people. I can't say the same about you. I know he trusts me and that the least I can do is return the favour."
    "Did you know he's Force-Sensitive?"
    A beat passed, a moment when the planet could have shattered right there and then and Morgan wouldn't have even noticed. Every fibre of her being felt numb, and the floor felt as if it was tilting. She grabbed the wall steadying herself.
    "What?"
    "You heard me," Ben told her. "Did he bother to tell you that? Trust you enough? Or, even better, did he tell you he was a stormtrooper, not even months ago?" Morgan's stomach dropped. But he wasn't finished. "A stormtrooper, mind you, that captured Lynley and Kayden -"
    "Stop," Morgan said, voice quivering.
    "Not only that, but recruited them, convincing them to join his cause. He was promoted, you know. I'm sure he told you every detail. He trusts you, after all. You trust him -"
    "Stop, please," Morgan's voice rose in urgency.
    "They even served in the same squadron," he said, voice infuriatingly calm. "Became great friends. No better team in all of the First Order. No stronger trust -"
    "Enough!" Morgan extended a hand, a blast of energy shooting towards Ben, a storm of telekinetic power -
    But he'd disappeared.
    Not without one last thing to say, though.
    Ask him yourself, if you're such great friends. And when he tells you the truth... You know where to find me.
    She shut her eyes tight, pushing his voice out, blocking him with every ounce of energy she had left in her. Her knees buckled and she fell onto her bed, breathing hard. Then, there was a knock on the door.
    "Morgan?"

    Jay's voice.

    Slowly, she pushed herself off the bed, fixing the sheets as quickly as possible, then made her way to the door. She had questions.

    She didn't think she wanted to know the answers.