Darkness Within

Memory

Turning the handle slowly, Ben opens the front door of the house, hoping that both Rey and Vale are asleep by now and that he can slip in undetected. He left around lunchtime, returning to one of his favorite points of the mountains where you can see for miles. It's peaceful up there and no one else knows about his lookout point, making it one of the only places he can feel entirely comfortable and at peace.

There's movement in the kitchen which he can hear as he approaches the end of the hallway and by the lack of Rey's overbearing presence, he's under the assumption that it is Vale.

Ben ducks his head as he walks through the kitchen, hoping the new addition to their household won't pay him any attention and he can slip right past and go to bed.

"Sir," her hushed voice breaks through the silent air. "Miss Rey went to bed not too long ago, but there are leftovers from dinner if you would like me to warm them for you."

Ben turns slowly, keeping his hands in his pockets to hide the fact he has them clenched from stress and tension. "I'm quite alright," he says evenly and dismissively.

"Have you eaten anything today?" She asks simply, leaning forward on the counter.

"I have not," Ben admits, dropping his eyes from hers and shifting back on his heels.

"Then sit, I'll warm the food for you. You need your strength as well and it's my job to make sure you're both healthy."

"You're the nurse, not our servant." Ben takes a few hesitant steps back towards the kitchen and sits at one of the elevated stools, resting his elbows on the counter and leaning forward.

"Yes I know sir," she says with a small smile as she scoops long orange noodles out of a container and then ladles the soup it was in also into the pot that she already has warming up on the stove. "But your health hinges on your diet, so it's the least I can do to help."

Ben doesn't argue with her, just watches as her long slender fingers grab a glass and fill it up with water for him. "Thank you," he mumbles in response to her setting it down in front of him.

"Vale?" Ben asks quietly, watching her face that is all too familiar to him. She glances up at him with a polite and practiced smile in encouragement for him to continue. "Do you remember who you worked for before you came here?"

"I'm not sure to what you're referring?" Vale replies and looks up at him, her brow knitted together in confusion and her lips pulled into a straight line.

"You have no memory?" Ben clarifies.

Vale's face doesn't change from its confused state as she looks down at the food and mixes it on the stove. "I have plenty of memories, but I don't know what you're exactly searching for."

"Forget it, I think you remind me of someone I know."

"Okay," she smiles again and pours the noodle soup into a bowl, and slices a piece of bread off. "Careful it's hot."

"Thank you Vale," Ben says kindly, watching the petite girl and trying not to let his mind wander.

"My pleasure. If you don't need anything else, I'm going to retire for the evening."

"I can clean up my dishes," Ben assures her while dipping the bread into the soup. "Have a good night."

"You too sir, goodnight."

Ben focuses on his food in front of him as Vale's soft footsteps get further away followed by the soft click of the door to the guest room. It has been around two years since he had seen her, and the last place he expected her to show up was in his living room, seemingly without any memory of him.

Once he has finished the noodle soup and bread, he rinses out his bowl and leaves it upside down to dry right next to the sink with the rest before going to the bedroom to join Rey.

Deep breaths followed by little coos come from Rey's side of the bed in the dark room, and he slips in behind her, trying not to wake her. Getting settled in the bed, he allows himself to sink down into the plush pillow and relax, just to be rudely brought back to reality by the light clicking on.

"Ben, where the kriff were you?" Rey demands. She's already sitting up in the bed and turned towards him, her upper body barely covered by her thin camisole.

"I went for a walk," Ben groans with his arm over his eyes.

"For 10 hours?" Rey points out looking over at the clock. "You block me out then disappear? You had me worried sick!"

"Shhhh," Ben shushes as he rolls toward her and sits up in bed. Pulling her closer by her shoulders, she relaxes enough to rest against his chest and let him wrap his arms around her. "We're not the only ones in the house anymore, you have to be quiet."

"What's going on?" She repeats again, expecting him to provide a reasonable explanation for his absence all day.

Ben let's out a slow labored breath and leans back against the wall, taking Rey with him.

"Vale and I have met before, but the thing is, she doesn't remember me."

"How did you meet?" Rey asks, having lost the angry tone to her voice but now dreading he's about to tell her Vale is a former pet.

"It's not that," Ben assures, reading her thoughts.

"Okay..." Rey trails off, heat pooling in her cheeks from embarrassment.

"She was one of the nurses on staff for the high ranking officers. We have our own private nurses and doctors as you know. After a few battles, she helped mend me together and was very calm and comforting. By far, she was my favorite and I much preferred when she was working over anyone else."

"So that's it? She was your nurse and she doesn't remember you?"

"Not quite," he pauses and she can sense the sadness in him. "I'll admit, I found her beautiful, easy on the eyes, and an ego boost to talk to, but I also wasn't the only one who felt this way about her. Hux felt this way and more about her, because he fell in love with her and they had a secret relationship behind doors for what felt like years. He was a different person when she was around or when I knew she had spent time with him in his quarters, he was... happy, something he wasn't at all in the last two years of his life."

"So what happened?"

"Pryde found out and he took it upon himself to rid Hux of what he determined was an 'unfortunate distraction.' As a result, Vale disappeared suddenly one day. I assumed she was dead, especially after the destruction of Star killer base, I assumed she never got off. Her turning up here with no memory of me and seemingly Hux wasn't something I was expecting."

"So Hux was capable of emotions," Rey trails off, not knowing what else to say.

"It surprised me too," Ben admits with a small chuckle, his fingers running small circles on her bare arm. "She gave me a glimpse of what Hux was like before the first order sunk its claws into him, turning him into the shell of a man you dealt with. It was unfortunate."

"Were you two friends then?"

"I wouldn't say that. We definitely tolerated each other, the air of competition always present between us, but he was definitely much more tolerable."

Rey's fingers twitch on his side as she stares out the window on the other side of the room. "So what do we do?"

"There isn't really much to do."

"I say we don't send her back," Rey blurts out and Ben tenses.

"Like ever?"

"Correct. She can live with us, become part of our family essentially. If she's as lovely as you let on, she'll be a fine addition to a family dynamic."

"It would be nice to have a medic here," Ben agrees.

"Then it's settled, she stays."

A/N: short chapter, but the next one gets really exciting!