Keep Him There

Criminals

The walk back to base was not pleasant. It was humid, there were bugs everywhere, and above all it was silent. Ben hated it.

He hated that he could not hear the woman's thoughts beside him, he hated being separated from her. Losing the bond was almost as brutal as losing Rey all together.

Ben shuddered at the thought. It was a miracle that she survived last time and he didn't know if he would have the strength to save her again.

When he looked up again, Rey's bright eyes were on him, searching his face.

"I'm fine," Ben lied quickly.

She didn't buy it for a second, "Really? Are you cold blooded?"

After years of hearing his dad's half-hearted advice, one tidbit suddenly made sense.

Women always figure out the truth. Always.

"Fine," Ben admitted, "I'm worried that without the bond connecting us, it will be much harder to protect each other."

"You mean me."

She was not asking. It was a statement.

"Primarily, yes."

Rey turned to face him, an incredulous look on her face, "You do know I lived as a slave in the desert for most of my life right?"

"Yes."

"No, I'll tell you the same thing I told your father; I can take care of myself. He seemed able to deal with that and you should learn too." she shot back, starting for base again.

Ben grabbed her arm before she could get too far, his temper surfacing. She was still blind to his obvious feelings, even after his admission and all of their moments since.

"Don't you know that the heroine always dies because she is arrogant enough to deny help when she needs it?"

Rey whirled around, smacking his hand off of her, "So I'm arrogant now? Tell me now, who was the one who denied help from his own father?"

And then she was gone, dashing toward the main hangar.

Ben let her go, caught up in a storm of guilt and anger. That girl was impossible. He had left everything for her, everything. The dark side was as seductive as ever, just waiting for the moment he lost his anchor to the light.  He really didn't think it was too much to ask for to just look after her.

Relationships couldn't be this difficult. Certainly, his father had to have an easier time with his mother.

After he cooled down, Ben started back to base. He kept his head down, wary of the glares of the Resistance members. But they weren't there. The whole base was deserted, no one tending the fighters, no one rushing around with clipboards, no people waiting to point at him with their fingers. He had never seen it so still.

He instantly started to run to the briefing room, getting closer and closer with each stride of his long legs. Ben came up to it to see a flow of people going in, all talking in hurried whispers. In the middle of the room stood Rey, right next to a smaller woman with short black hair and the ex-stormtrooper. There was a schematic on the holotable showing a fleet rapidly entering the system. Poe Dameron stood on the other side, referring to the map as he spoke to the crowd.

"Someone here," he moved his eyes pointedly to Ben, "has betrayed our location to the remnants of the First Order. They are moving to attack now."

More whispers.

Rey caught his gaze. She believed in him, even if she couldn't feel his innocence. He nodded, silently affirming her conclusions. He wouldn't betray her again.