FREE FALLING ━━ p. dameron ✓

twenty two

We had both arrived at the medbay, but Poe left soon after to round up the rest of the people we were letting in on our plan.

I had been sitting in a chair next to my mother, but now I was dozing, my body angry at me for the lack of sleep.

Something pulls me out of my nap, and my head snaps up. I glance around, seeing no one. I sigh and lean backwards on the chair.

Then I feel it again. I drop the chair on all four legs and stand up. It's a pulling at my stomach, as if someone has a rope around my midsection and is tightening is slowly. It's not painful just...uncomfortable.

Then something shimmers in front of me. I gasp and pull out my blaster fumbling with the safety lock.

"Ah ah ah. You might not want to do that in the medbay." He says.

I glare at him, knowing he's right. "Ben. How nice of you to drop by." I spit at him. I slide my blaster back into its holster, but my hand still lingers on it. Just in case.

Ben laughs. "You don't need your weapon. I can't hurt you and you can't hurt me. This is a Force projection. Although admittedly I'm not sure how. You never were a Force user hm?" Ben cocks his head.

I shake my head. "Never was unlucky enough."

"I wouldn't say unlucky. The Force has saved mother and uncle quite a few times."

I seethe silently. "What do you want Ben?"

"Nothing. I'm not doing this."

"Then how is this happening?"

"I'm not sure. The midi-chlorians in your bloodstream is what binds you to the Force. When you have a lot, you can manipulate it."

"I'm not here for an anatomy lesson. I just want to know what's happening."

Ben rolls his eyes. "I was getting to that. You've never had enough midi-chlorians to control the Force but you do have a few more than normal people, courtesy of mother."

"What does that mean for me?"

"Nothing."

"I'm not even Force-sensitive?" I ask. I've heard of people like that. Not enough Force to become a Jedi, but they are in tune with it.

Ben shakes his head. "I'm sorry sister."

"Don't...don't do that. Don't act like you care." I say.

"But I do care." He pleads with me.

"No. You do not care. About me, or mom, or any of it." I state. I sound like I'm trying to convince myself.

"I didn't use to care. That's why I sent in Braiden." Ben says. I take a step back.

"What?" I whisper.

"Braiden was a First Order spy. I ordered him to get close to you so that he could kill you. I thought you would become a Force user and try and beat me, but you never did develop powers. I ordered him to mess with your X-wing. Right before you left to Jakku. I ordered him to tamper with it. Then he failed. So we had to try different ways. But eventually, your little boyfriend beat him up. I called him back. He was of no use to me. He wasn't telling me anything we didn't know. How do you think we found out about Tekka?"

My thoughts have gone blank. "So that's where Braiden went." I whisper to myself. "Is he alive now?" I ask Ben.

He shakes his head. "No."

I feel my face harden. "I told you that you didn't care about me! And this just proves it!" I yell at him.

"Well I care now!" Ben yells. He grabs his lightsaber from his belt and ignites it, momentarily forgetting that this is a Force projection.

"It was I who saved you in Takodana!" Ben yells at me, his ignited saber in hand. "I felt your flame slowly begin to flicker and I knew you were in trouble. I cared about you enough to save you from drowning in a lake."

"You don't care about me at all you murdering bastard!" I yell back. My cheeks feel hot and red. "If you really cared about me, you would've left Dad alone!"

Ben takes a step back. "H-how did you know I killed him?" He asks, his voice quivering.

"How do you think? Not only was mom being super obvious about it, I could feel it was you! And I'm not dumb! I can put two and two together. Chewie told me you were in the oscillator with them. No stormtrooper could've killed Dad. No, it had to be you." I take a step forward. "I will never forgive you. I hate you!" I yell at him.

Ben stares at me, disbelief in his eyes. The connection between us is cut, and I feel like I'm being freed from a prison. I sink to the floor, hoping, wishing, that I never have to do that again.

I sit on the floor, the cold seeping into my skin. I place my head on my crossed arms and sob.

Minutes tick by, and slowly I regain control of myself. I stand up and runs my hands over my hair, trying to smooth it down. I scrub at my face, erasing the tear marks.

By some miracle, Poe comes back after I've made myself presentable. I've been pacing, waiting for him.

He walks into the medbay and with Lula, Connix, C'ai, Nien, Riley, and Jess trailing after him.

"I've slightly filled them all in on what's happening." Poe says. "They're all on board with it."

I nod. Connix checks a watch of sorts on her wrist and sighs, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Here's what I know." She starts. "Our medical frigate was just destroyed. Our fuel reserves at six hours, probably less now."

Lula pulls at her hair ends nervously. It seems to be a habit of hers.

Poe is staring out the window. "Finn, Rose, where are you guys?" He whispers. He takes a deep breath and turns back to our little group. "We need to keep Holdo occupied while Finn and Rose are away. She can't know anything about our plan."

"What if she finds out?" Jess asks.

"We'll all be labeled as traitors in her eyes. Maybe worse. But that doesn't matter. When Leia wakes up, it won't be like that. Besides, we have to do this. To save the fleet." I state.

All eyes turn to me. I glance around at everyone, my eyes lingering on Lula.

"You're either in or out." I say.

Lula is the first one to speak up. "I'm in. The Resistance is my family."

Next is Connix. "We'll do this together."

Jess, Riley, C'ai, and Nien all agree too.

"Good. Wouldn't have wanted to blast any of you guys." I say, cracking a smile.

Everybody laughs. Poe glances to Leia and for once, he doesn't look worried.

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I've actually been stewing on this idea w Braiden for a while. Kinda a big plot twist? Idk, tell me what you think

word count: 1180