GIDEON (Star Wars)

Forced Bonding

"Did you get it?" Kylo Ren asked the captain as soon as she exited Unkar's shack.

As she finished wrapping her shawl around her face, the woman nodded, "Yes, I got the location. I'm just waiting on an order to be brought out."

The First Order leader stiffened, "We aren't hear for any other business affairs you have going on."

"Relax, it's just a couple of items I need for our next stop." Gideon explained, "Getting to Helm will not be easy, but getting away will be even harder. I need to make a ramifications to the ship in case a fight breaks out."

Piko, Unkar's right hand man, brought out a small bag of supplies to Gideon. She tipped him with a five-credit voucher, slinging the bag over her bad shoulder with a grimace.

"See? Took barely a minute." She grinned sarcastically as she led the way back to the Stargazer. The sun, though just past midday, was still beating down on them, emitting a sweltering heat that made the thirty-minute walk especially undesirable.

"Where is Helm's location?" Kylo asked the woman, eyeing her as she adjusted her grip on the heavy bag.

"Hosnian Prime, Industrial Sector." Gideon shook her head in disbelief, "I can't believe she'd even go back to that stupid place."

Kylo shot the woman a look, his dark eyes asking her to continue.

"She runs a galaxy-wide fight club. The last time she was on Hosnian Prime was when I ruined the whole operation, and since then it was nearly impossible to find her." Gideon sighed, "Unkar told me he sent over a shipment of supplies recently. She must be reestablishing the club there."

"How is a criminal going to tell us the location of the Resistance Headquarters?" Kylo Ren asked the woman, using part of his hood to wipe the sweat from the side of his face.

"Brandy Helm knows just about everything about the galaxy. She has these data chips she wears around her neck with all of her intel. We get those chips, we get the location of the base." Gideon shrugged, "Simple."

She stopped for a moment, her shoulder aching from taking the weight of the bag. Gideon looked up at the sky, letting out a small fatigued huff, blowing a curl away from her face. As she went to adjust the bag higher onto her shoulder, Kylo Ren held out his hand.

"Let me." He said, "You're tired."

Gideon locked eyes with him for a moment, her brows furrowed at his sudden act of kindness (if that's what she could call it). Slowly she handed him the bag, relieved from the weight of it on her shoulders. As she walked beside him, scanning the horizon for the Stargazer, she rubbed her cramped shoulder with a callused hand.

"Thanks." She nodded at him with a kind of mutual appreciation. Kylo returned it with a roll of his dark eyes, shouldering the bag with ease.

"You were slowing us down." He shrugged off their small moment, where for the tiniest second they didn't despise each other, "The sooner we get to your ship, the sooner we get out of the heat."

Gideon shook her head, "You couldn't just help a girl out from the goodness of your heart?"

"No."

"Okay, then."

It was a relief for both Kylo Ren and Gideon to get out of the sweltering heat of Jakku's sandy deserts. As Gideon pulled the ship off the ground, she cranked up the air conditioner, relieved to be out of the sun.

After she popped in the coordinates of Hosnian Prime and put the ship into hyperdrive, she spun her chair around, letting out a refreshed sign as cold air blew on her sweaty forehead.