#my mom was so pissed she scratched herself bloody. through her pants. she was ready to kill someone

[arcadian-vampire]

[Medical Anomaly Blogging whining, drug mentions]

So after my first dose of Fentanyl (given for my surgery), there was a mix up and I didn't have orders for Anything. The nurses were able to give my Tylenol and said they'd contact my doc abt the situation, but???? never managed to get ahold of him????? So I waited.

Eventually (after 4 hours) I started really hurting, so I called in a nurse, and was told I could have more Tylenol in two hours. I couldn't draw a deep breath and could barely move, but sure, I could wait, probably.

I lasted like 20 more minutes before I cried (which made it WORSE) lmao, I got an icepack to try to get me by for another hour and 40 minutes so I'd get Tylenol, nurses tried contacting my doctor again, nurse shift ended so I got a new nurse, I straight up stopped existing for a while bc hooooly fuck.

My tube leaked all over the place at one point and a nurse changed my bedding, I remember that! That was fun

Eventually ???? a nurse came in, gave me smth through my iv, and VWOOP surprise, it was Fentanyl again, thank fuck. She apologized a ton, and gifted me a cute pill crusher bc she heard I can't swallow pills and usually have to crush them 😭

Unfortunately, I tried to adjust my bed afterwards, and apparently hospital beds are actually stupid as shit and suddenly lurch into motion when you click the button. The movement yanked on my tube and I was right back to a 10 on the scale, couldn't talk at all, had to wait 45 minutes for fentanyl again. sigh

I still can't really talk tbh and I'm stuck in like, a permanent muscle spasm after the bed wrecked my shit, but I'm a human person again so that's nice

tldr; I've spent like ~5 hours at a 9 or 10 on the pain scale and I am EXHAUSTEDD but too uncomfy to sleep. I'm gonna have to get out of bed to use the bathroom at some point too but that sucks so much, I'd kind of rather hit myself in the face with a cactus.

[pulpwriterx]

RESURRECTION: CHAPTER 4- A GAME OF THRONES

Links to previous chapters

Chapter Three

Chapter Two

Chapter One

CHAPTER 5: A GAME OF THRONES

(Author’s Note: Not a crossover. Title based on an observation Ben Solo makes about Skywalkers and the Galaxy)

When Leia sat up with a start, freeing herself from a heavy white sheet, she knew Ben must be alive.

She walked into a huge celebration of victory that she was distracted from only by her thoughts of him.

It also became a celebration that the reports of the General’s death had been greatly exaggerated.

In the midst of all of it, Leia kept looking for Chewie.

When he picked her up in a big Wookiee bear hug, howling for joy, she knew she was really alive.

And she felt better knowing he was there with her.

“Ben did this, Chewie. I’m alive because Ben is alive. We have to find him?”

Chewie cocked his head to the side, questioningly.

“Why? Because I need to know what he’s up to.”

***

More than anyone else could be, Leia was sure that her son was up to something.

Leia heard Rey’s heartbreaking story about Ben’s passing, and the poor girl cried and cried in her arms.

She tried to tell Rey that if she was alive that meant Ben was, too, but Rey was adamant.

She had seen him die.

Most people thought Rey's story about Ben’s alleged passing was romantic.

Not Leia.

What was it that Arkanian pain in the ass Armitage Hux often said about her son?

Leia ruefully remembered.

The man originally known as Ben Solo is an amoral, charismatic merchant of dreams. If you want your dreams he will sell them to you. Or if you prefer your nightmares you can have those, too.

She had been trying, for the past decade and change, to remember the Ben she knew.

Ben had been a sweet, kind, funny, little boy.

He had a goofy smile, and a ready laugh and she really didn’t see where Han got that whole dark, ancient eyes thing.

He was quirky, and weird, but in an endearing way, and she found lovable in his gangly awkwardness.

But even as a child he had a dark side, all you had to do was ask the boys who bullied him, and they would tell you through pulped noses and broken teeth why they had stopped.

He had moods, and Leia suspected that Ben also had mystical visions.

But it was only when he reached his terrible teens that things began to go downhill.

Ben Solo had left the Jedi Temple, twice, to pursue his father’s vocation, and he had excelled at being a ruthless pirate.

The second time, he was suspended for breaking his vow of chastity, multiple times, with the equally black-hearted daughter of an Arkanian warlord.

Hux, her Force null cousin, had been sent to keep her out of trouble.

He failed.

At the meeting with his Master, Ben had listened to everything Luke said, and then replied?

“Well, Uncle Luke, you’d better kick me out, then, because after being a virgin for twenty years, all I want out of life is Hela Darkstar's gorgeous ginger cunt. You can’t convince me that hokey religions and ancient weapons are better than fucking. Nothing is better than fucking. Except maybe crushing your enemies, having them driven before you, and hearing the lamentations of their kinsmen. Can I go back to space, now?”

Han was so proud.

Leia had been appalled.

After he had dismissed Ben, Han and Luke had laughed over what Ben had said for about fifteen minutes, but Leia didn’t see the humor in it, or the fact that Ben was going back to Anchorhead with his father as soon as Han could stop expressing his relief that Ben had finally got a girlfriend.

At the time, she had though that a pirate’s life was the worst thing that could happen to him, and she made Han send him back to Luke after Ben’s suspension was over.

The third time was the charm on that one.

In hindsight, it would have been better to let him go back to space with his father, and stay there.

But Ben had that option.

After Luke had tried to behead him, Ben could have left, found his father, went back to space and never had anything to do with the Jedi, or the Sith, again.

But, and unlike his Uncle, Ben wanted to play the game of thrones with his mother.

She was willing to make a place for him in the governing of the Galaxy, in time, and with maturity, but Ben Solo didn’t want to wait for his piece of pie.

So he became Kylo Ren, and threw in his lot with the Sith.

That was only his first move.

And killing Snoke was his third.

Leia believed that Ben really was in love with Rey, but it was awfully expedient for his purposes for that to have happened.

That was his second move.

But a funny thing happened as he shed Kylo Ren, the mask Ben Solo wore, on his way to become Ben Solo, Hero of the Resistance.

To kill the badguys, win the day, and get the girl.

He died.

But that was only a temporary setback for a Skywalker.

Skywalkers had many death and many births, and lived many lives, in-between.

Ben’s hunger for his victory, and the spoils of it, and for Rey were intense enough to bring him back from the other side, and her with him.

That meant his power was growing; that he was almost as strong in the Force as she was.

No, it wasn't romantic.

How had Ben managed to court Rey, and win her love when they were enemies, and all their encounters ended just short of murder?

It was something, the bond between Rey Palpatine and Ben Solo, but romantic wasn’t the word that came to Leia’s mind.

Terrifying was more like it.

She knew that Ben would come for Rey, and now that the man she loved was Ben Solo and not Kylo Ren, Rey would welcome him with open arms.

Leia was glad that Ben had returned to the light, and that he was alive, but she was still worried.

Hela Darkstar seemed to be out of the picture, but Leia had thought that in the past.

Ben was more sentimental about his women than his father had been; Hela was bound to take a part in Ben’s story again, sometime.

That and Leia knew that Kylo Ren was the mask that Ben Solo wore, and she suspected that Ren had been a means to the end of becoming the Galactic hero Ben Solo now was.

Galactic heroes often end up becoming galactic rulers.

Leia found would be happy going back to the Solo empire on the Outer Rim, to be a Pirate King.

It was, she knew, the best thing for him, and not the worst.

Still she remembered what he had said to her on the remains of the Death Star, as he thought he lay dying.

Don’t think I’m going anywhere, General. I know the game we play in this Galaxy. It’s all a game of thrones. And if you’re not a Skywalker? You don’t get to sit on the throne.

And as for Rey?

Leia could have told her about all the things she was going to discover, good and bad, if she went off with Ben.

But when she had been about Rey's age and Han had been about Ben’s age?

Leia knew she wouldn’t have listened, either.

That night, Leia’s rival had heralded his arrival with the presence in the infirmary of a 5 man squad  suffering from various scrapes, contusions, scratches, shiners, fat lips, bloody noses and even a nasty human bite.

They had snuck up on a really big guy while he was pissing on a rock in a deep cave on Exegol. A man the size and breadth of a short Wookiee, and he must have thought they were attacking him, because he fought back so fiercely they let him have an X-Wing.

These were compounded by reports of a barefoot naked man in a blast helmet wandering around camp, looking for something.

What did that mean?

That Ben was back in the game and he didn’t need a weapon, or even pants, t play it?

The last report came from Finn and Poe, who burst in to the command tent without knocking.

“General! There’s some man in Rey's tent and he’s assaulting her like a raging Wookiee! You can hear her screaming all over the place! And he won’t let me save her!” Finn told her

“She doesn’t need saving! He’s full of shit, General. Finn's just jealous because it’s not him in Rey’s tent. Did you know Ben was with Rey?”

“My son, Ben? How do you know it’s him?”

“I recognize his voice. We, uh, I worked with him and Han. Before the war.”

“That guy is still a fucking animal! You wouldn’t believe the stuff he's screaming at the top of his lungs! I think we should check on Rey, General. Make sure she’s OK.” Finn insisted.

“Yes, I would believe it. Alright, Finn. If you really think Rey is in trouble? We'll go find out.”

It was just conceivable that Finn might be right, and Poe might be wrong.

Call him Kylo or call him Ben, Leia suspected that to get what he wanted, her ruthless pirate son was capable of goddamn anything.

Rey was the brightest light in the Galaxy, the only Jedi of her generation.

Claiming her just might be Ben’s next move.

***

Ben just laughed, and turned his head, sparing his mother having to see the face he made when he shot his wad.

Deeply embarrassed, Leia slammed the door shut and locked it.

Ben was still laughing.

It made her think of a time when Ben was about seven or eight, and Han hadn’t locked their bedroom door, and Ben had walked in without knocking.

And caught them in the act.

“DAD! This is so gross! Cantcha take Mom someplace else to do that? I live here!”

“So do we, kid! Get out of this room and lock that door, Ben! You know you’re not allowed to just walk in here without knocking!”

“It’s still gross.” Ben said, and left.

Locking the door before he shut it.

Han had neither been ashamed or missed a stroke.

And he saw no reason for them to stop, either.

Ben had just put the radio on, and later, when Leia was too deeply embarrassed to breathe, Han had put his pants on and gone out and made Ben’s lunch.

“Dad, did you do something weird to Mom? How come she’s hiding in your bedroom?”

“Most people get embarrassed about shit like that, kiddo.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Eat your lunch.”

It didn’t bother either of them.

Born without shame.

For the first time since she had realised he was alive, no, for the first time in a decade and change, Leia began to think of Ben as her son, only.

Not an opponent, or a rival.

Not as an enemy, or a symbol.

As her son, Ben.

He knew she would be embarrassed, so even though he thought it was funny, he turned his head and laughed.

What am I going to do with him? How can I just be his mother, now? All those scars, holy mother Force, what did they do to him? 

Is there anything left of the boy I knew, in that man I just saw?

“Is she OK?” Poe demanded.

“What about the raging Wookiee?” Finn demanded.

Leia smacked their heads together.

“Idiots! Do you think I wanted to see that? Do you think I raised a rapist? An animal? A monster? Rey is fine. She looked very happy. It’s just that she has a boyfriend, Finn, and it’s not you.” Leia snapped

“Rey has two boyfriends, and neither of them are me.” Finn said.

“Yeah, but I know Ben. He won’t care about me. You? He’d cut your head off.” Poe explained

“I talked to him. It was definitely Ben Solo. He didn’t threaten to cut my head off.” Finn said.

“Because he probably figures it’s me, not you. Rey’s into flyboys. What can I say? Was it really Ben, General?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, Poe, but yes. It was. He wasn’t embarrassed, because Ben has no shame. Solo family trait. But I am very embarrassed. So, from now on? You boys just  mind your own business.”

The General began to walk away.

“That makes sense. If Rey is Ben’s girl, that's why he killed Snoke and they killed all his guards.” Poe said

“But Rey killed Kylo Ren.” Finn added

“Rey killed Palpatine. Ben probably killed all the Knights of Ren to get to Kylo Ren, and killed him to avenge Han.” Poe explained

“He told me the Sith held him in detention for three years and tried to break him.” Finn expanded

“That was a mistake. You cross Ben Solo? You die.” Poe reminded Finn.

Rey’s door opened.

She shut it.

Leia turned around.

She was frozen to the spot

“Ben, put these on.”

“I don’t want to wear those, I hate underwear!”

“Just put them on. To go out. You’re naked!”

“Okay, okay.”

The door opened and Ben stepped out.

He looked like he’d just made the Kessel Run on foot.

He brushed his sweaty hair out of his face.

Poe started applauding him, and Ben grinned.

“She made me work for it.” He said.

“Always does.” Poe agreed.

“Oh, so it’s you. That’s OK, Poe. Because I know you. So tell me, Tiesdays and Thursdays only, right?”

“Right, Ben. You think I want to die?”

“I know you don’t. This way, we’re keeping it in the family. But any of these other guys? We kill him.”

“Immediately.

Poe and Ben both laughed.

Ben sat by Rey’s campfire, and started poking the embers with a stick.

“What, Mom? I’m beat. I have to get some sleep.”

What Mom.

That was all he had to say?

The last time she had seen her son in person he was a boy of 23, still a little soft around the edges

Now he was a grown man, 35 years old, hard, and scarred, the tough guy his father had always wanted him to be.

But he still had her little Ben’s sweet, goofy smile.

And after all these years?

What, Mom?

“Can you try to be a little quieter, in there?”

“Sorry. I got carried away in the moment.”

Ben poked the fire.

He looked at his feet.

Then he looked up at his mother, again.

“Well, here I am. I came home. Like you wanted. Now what?” he asked.

“There’s so many things I want to say to you, Ben. Is that all you have to say to me? Here you are? Now what?” Leia demanded.

“I did a pretty good job, didn’t I? I mean, it’s over now. Maybe too many people got killed. And I killed too many of them. But I ended it. If I didn’t do what I did, , it never would have ended. Somebody had to do it. That somebody could only have been me.” Ben said.

“Ben, I don’t want to talk about religion and politics. What are you going to do with your life, now? Are you OK? Really OK?”

“I think I’ll be OK. With time. And I’m just going to go back to work. I still have the ship. And the place in Anchorhead. I’ve got money stashed. I’ll be fine, Mom. Really.”

He seemed like he really needed to hear her praise him.

“The Galaxy owes you and Rey a great debt. You did a pretty good job, Ben. But this isn’t all is forgiven and everything is fine. It can’t be.”

“I am not going back to jail. You might as well just kill me.”

“I said this wasn’t about politics. In the morning? We need to talk. And none of your bullshit stories, or I will pull the truth out of your head. I’ll be back at 9. Have clothes on.”

“Okay. Can I go lie down before I fall down?”

“You had better. I'll see you in the morning, Benjamin.”

***

Morning broke.

Ben snored.

Rey woke up.

Ben rolled over.

And snored.

“Ben. Wake up. Your mother will be here, soon. She was very sick.”

“Bullshit. Skywalkers don’t die. He'll be back too. Many deaths, many lives. Skywalkers come back.”

“What?”

Ben sat up.

“She fooled you, huh? It’s alright. She fools everybody. I know better. My mother is the most powerful living Force sensitive being in the Galaxy. I have only begun to sense the contours of the universes that she commands. It’s a game, Rey. A game of thrones. And if you’re not a Skywalker? You don’t get to sit on the throne. But I’m not ready to be the King. Let her have the Galaxy. For now. That’s what she wants to know about. And if I were her? I’d be worried about me, too.”

“But Ben, the General is your mother.”

“Yeah. But did she hug me? Did she cry? I had to drag it out of her to say I did a good thing for the Galaxy. She doesn’t trust me. She can’t. She’s not my Mom, anymore. I’ll always be the enemy to her.”

Ben’s voice quavered.

He stood up, stretched, and sat on the stool she had made to put his socks on.

Rey noticed his left ankle was bruised and his foot was swollen up.

“Ah, shit. Sprained my ankle. That’s why it hurt to walk on it. Probably when those guys were chasing me. Now I can’t even escape before she gets here.”

Then he put one boot, and  the coveralls.

“I like the beard, Ben.” Rey told him.

It was a lame thing to say, but she couldn’t think of anything else.

“Disguise.” he replied.

“You have to give your mother time, Ben. It took me years to allow myself to love you. And to trust you. And I still almost killed you when you crushed the Sith wayfinder.”

“That didn’t go the way I pictured it. I thought you’d fall into my arms when I told you the only way you were going to Exegol was with me.”

“Well, maybe you’re wrong about your mother, too. Maybe she didn’t want to hug you because you were all sweaty and covered in come and squirt.”

Rey had insisted they wash up in the stream before getting back into her bed. 

That made Ben laugh.

At 9, his mother and Chewbacca both came to Rey’s tent.

Ben was sitting on one of the stools Rey had made.

When Chewbacca walked in Rey sensed an emotion in Ben she didn’t think he had.

Shame.

Ben bowed his head, and rounded his shoulders, making himself look smaller.

He made a mournful sound that Rey didn’t think could have come from a human throat.

Chewbacca chastised him, angrily.

Ben made the same mournful sound.

Chewie was so sad and so angry that Rey couldn’t even understand him.

Finally she understood Chewbacca ordering “Kallaurra” to lift up his head.

Ben was crying.

Real tears.

“I’m sorry.  I can live with everything else I did. But not what I did to the Old Man. It’s horrible. Worse than just killing him. I’m not even sure if he’s alive or dead. He might not be dead, Chewie. At least I don’t think he is.”

“Your father, Ben?” Leia asked.

Leia had been up all night.

Crying because she had her son back.

Crying because Han was gone.

“Ben, I've seen his ghost.” Leia told Ben.

“Me too. But I, uh, I pushed his spirit out of his body. So he wouldn’t have to stay frozen.”

“What? Benjamin Skywalker Organa Solo, what did you do to your father?” Leia insisted.

“We had a different fight, before the fight Chewie saw. The Old Man punched me in the face, and I hit him and long story short, I almost didn’t give him the blast vest. But I knew I had to give the Hutts something.  Then again, it’s not like I wanted him to suffer.  I used the Force to push his spirit out, so when he fell into the freezing chamber, he wouldn’t be trapped. It’s still connected. Once he’s out of hibernation, body and spirit will be reunited. I think. I’m pretty  sure.  I did it to myself, a couple times, when I was in too much pain to take it, and I’m still here.”

Leia interrupted Ben.

“I’m sorry, you did what? Is this something the Sith taught you?”

“No. I figured it out myself. While I was doing my Sith training, which is pretty much torture in solitary confinement. I got hurt pretty bad during training. All of us did. The pain drove some of us mad, and some of us just died. But I figured out how to use the Force to push my spirit out of my body. If the pain was too bad, or if I was too sick? I’d just leave for awhile. You can pretty much go anywhere you want. Me, I used to like to go to forests. Or deserts. I went to Hoth a few times. Quiet places where there were no people. So I did the same thing to the Old Man. Pushed his spirit out of his body. He should be fine. I always am.”

Leia looked at Rey.

There were tears in her eyes, too.

But she quickly got angry when Ben finished explaining himself.

“Anyway,  that chasm the Old Man fell into on Starkiller Base? It was a huge carbonite freezing chamber.  Before I delivered him to Jobi, I checked the slab.  He’s alive. Or he was, then. Right now, he’s hanging on Jobi the Hutt's wall. At Jabba’s old palace on Tattoine. At least he’s been completely safe for the whole war.”

“You ruthless little pirate bastard! What did you owe the Hutts?”

Leia slapped Ben.

Chewie sat down heavily, opposite him.

He muttered something.

“Rathtars? What rathtars? Chewie, you and Han were selling rathtars to the Hutt syndicate? Were you insane?”

“They were my rathtars. It’s your fault, Mom. When you sent Dad to Starkiller Base, he was supposed to be delivering my rathtars to Jobi. The Hutt wanted both of us on his wall after the Old Man didn’t deliver his product. And I couldn't give Jobi the money back, because I already invested it in some product he was selling me that I already had buyers for. That and I owed him for the rathtars. But he made me a real sweetheart deal to get Captain Solo back on the family wall. I really didn’t have a choice.

“You were still in business, Ben? The whole time?”

“Everybody was, Mom. What was I supposed to do, quit? You already gave Dad the boot and what were he and Chewie gonna do? Starve? Were we all supposed to miss the opportunity to get rich off another Galactic War? I gave the Old Man a Captain’s Medal, and he stayed on the Outer Rim. He was safe, we made money. People got to have booze, cigarillos, coffee and rubbers so they could have a little fun during this war, because I brought them in. So don’t say Ben Solo didn’t help the war effort. Everything worked out until you decided my Daddy needed to come and bring me home because I had been a bad boy.”

Leia slapped him, again.

This time, Ben fell off the stool.

“Shit, Mom, quit hitting me! My balance is off, I sprained my ankle.”

Leia forgot about everything else she was going to ask him.

“You’re hurt, Ben?”

“It’s fine. I fixed it, before. When I first put by boot on, last night. It’ll heal. No doctors. Mom. No needles. No bacta tank. I can’t do any of that. If I get sick enough, ever to need needles and medical droids and bacta tanks? They’ll have to keep me unconscious the whole time. You don’t want to know, and telling you about it would break my mind. No. No fucking doctors.”

Ben’s voice raised in pitch and in volume

He looked scared.

He was terrified.

Without thinking, she reached for his hand, and her mind was assaulted by a barrage of terrifying images from his memory.

She could hear his screams.

Ben tried to pull his hand away.

But Leia pulled him into her arms.

“It’s alright, Ben. You’ve carried this pain long enough. I’m your mother. I can bear some of it, for you. Now I understand. I understand.”

Ben hugged his mother back, and started to cry. 

“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m really sorry.” he sobbed.

“You’re still my son, Ben. And I love you. And I’m so glad you finally came home.”

Ben cried for a long time.

***

“Ben, let me see your ankle.” Leia demanded.

Ben stuck his foot out.

“It looks really bad. I can’t stand on it, today.” he admitted.

“It does. If this isn’t set right, Ben, you'll be limping all the time. How about one doctor. An old lady, like me. No droids, no bacta tanks, no needles. No exam room. I’ll bring her here, to Rey's tent. You don’t want to limp for the rest of your life, do you?”

“No. I’ll try.” Ben agreed.

Leia went to get the doctor.

“Fucking ankle! What about the Old Man? I fixed up a place for all of us to lay low, but I can’t go now, Chewie. I can’t walk.”

Chewie told Ben that they needed to make a plan, anyway, and they'd wait to rescue Han until he was healed.

Rey laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Ben asked.

“If Han survived, he'll be so proud of you. You’re a real pirate, Ben. You sold your own father to settle a debt and get a load of swag from the Hutt Syndicate.”

They all laughed at that.

***

The doctor wanted to see Ben, alone.

Chewie knew how afraid he was, and refused to leave him.

The doctor came out, after she was done, to talk to Rey and Leia.

They waited for the doctor.

“Your son is a powerful man. Without the use of the Force. With brute force, he could have crushed me with one hand. He’s almost the size of Chewbacca! A rescue party made the mistakes of approaching him in a way that looked like an attack, and I treated five people for minor injuries they sustained. With no weapons. And he was terrified of me. Terrified.”

The Twi’Lek doctor sighed.

“When they held him captive, Leia, the First Order tortured your son. I don’t…well, the ankle, first. The ankle isn’t broken. It's badly sprained. He tied two sticks to it with a rag, shoved his foot in the boot, laced it up tight and walked on it. I’m not surprised. He’s tough. He had to be. There are scars on his ribs, on both sides, he’s broken every one. And the scar on his collarbone tells me that someone stapled it together. The scars around the stitches are ragged. They held him down, stapled his collarbone together and sewed his muscle and skin shut with no anasthesia. Then they probably let him lie, and after it festered, shut him up in a bacta tank. He’s also broken his elbow. And there’s a scar. It starts on his right hip, crosses over, wraps around his leg, and ends just above his knee. It’s from a torture droid. Your son is a strong man, mentally, that he could survive.”

“What about his ankle, doctor?” Rey asked.

She didn’t want to hear any more of the other things.

“Ben needs to wear a brace for a month, and limit his walking for about two weeks. Keep his foot elevated. Use a crutch or a cane. I told him. He didn’t like it, but I told him listen to me, or limp forever. Does Ben have somewhere to go? Someone to take care of him?”

“He does. And I don’t mind. If he can fly? We can leave, as soon as he gets something to eat.” Rey volunteered.

Ben came out of the tent, hopping on one leg.

“I’m not using that crutch. It’s undignified.”

“Ben, if you were worried about your dignity, you should have conducted your personal business a little more quietly last night. Or come to this camp with pants on.” Leia suggested.

“All that added to my legend. This crutch makes me look weak.”

Rey ran into the tent, rummaging around, and then came out.

“Here, Ben. I found it in a wreck in the woods. I restored it and used it when I twisted my ankle, even though it was too tall for me. The bottom part is real wood. Some kind of dark wood, it’s not painted. That top part is a geode.”

Rey handed Ben the cane.

“This is better. I’m going home, Mom. To the Outer Rim, to Tattoine. I have a place out in the hinterlands to hide. Tell me when it’s safe for me to go back to Anchorhead and be Ben Solo again.”

“Rey, you know Ben Solo makes his home in Anchorhead because he’s a smuggler and a pirate, don’t you?’’

“Honestly, Master Leia? I’ve always had a problem with flyboys. I don’t mind at all.”

“Be careful, Rey. My son, here? He’s a whole bunch of guys. One for every occasion.”

Rey waited for Ben to deny it.

But, he didn’t.

“Add one more, Mom. Ben Skywalker. I am a Skywalker, after all. Ben Skywalker, and his lovely wife. Just two nice kids without a lot of money, trying to get by.”

“Rey Skywalker? Master, Leia, can I can be Rey Skywalker?”

“Yes, Rey. Welcome to the Skywalker-Solo family. I’m very sorry for you.” Leia replied.

She hugged Rey, and then hugged Ben again.

“Don’t make waves, kid. I need to think about what I’m going to do about this Ben Solo and Kylo Ren problem. Do you have anything to prove you killed him?”

“I brought his broken mask and his gloves to Exegol with me. They’re still in that cave. Why do you think I fought so hard?”

“What about his lightsaber?” Leia asked.

“Threw it away. This is Uncle Luke’s. I’m going to make another one. I liked the crossbar, but I’ll make the beam a different color.”

“Good idea. Lay low, and don’t worry about your father. Chewie and I will figure something out.”

***

“Luke, I need you to do me a favor.”

The Jedi Master’s Force ghost sat down beside his sister.

“I don’t think I need the Force to predict what you’re about to say.” he replied.

[kingkeerys]

the art of chasing ♔ billy hargrove [six]

concept: steve has a female best friend and billy has taken it upon himself to flirt with her just to piss steve off. that’s it. that’s the plot. [vol. 6]

a/n: okay so this wasn’t posted last night like i said it would be because i fell asleep lmao but i got it out today so be proud of me!! more was going to happen in this chapter than what actually did but it was getting too long so i had to stop it somewhere bahah. so the next part will technically be part 6.5 rather than 7. enjoy! xoxo

masterlist

Standards set and broken all the time Control the chaos behind a gun Call it as I see it even if I was born deaf, blind and dumb

Annie stared at Billy’s unconscious form from across the room.

At first she thought about just leaving him. When she got back inside the house her hands had been shaking. She’d never felt so angry in her life and for a while she paced in the kitchen, unable to even look at him, until the brunt of the anger faded away and she’d nearly burned a hole in the floor from walking back and forth. She wanted to just leave him behind and find her own way home, sort of hoping that he’d wake up scared and alone, but she had a feeling Ms. Byers wouldn’t appreciate coming home to a bloody boy passed out in her disarrayed living room.

So instead she decided to sit in the corner of the living room with her knees pulled into her chest out of his eyesight in case he finally came to and just watched him silently.

He’d crossed the line with Steve. In the beginning it’d only been simple teasing here, a bit of mockery there, but it’d never gotten physical. Well, unless you counted that time he shoved Steve in basketball. It’d never gone this far. Nothing Steve could have done warranted such a violent reaction. Clearly Billy had some serious issues to work out and she wasn’t going to subject herself to any of that. If she knew Billy at all, he wouldn’t see it that way. According to him he’s got nothing to fix, so really he was beyond help.

But it did beg the question though: what were the kids doing at Will Byers’ house without Will or his Mom around? And why was Steve with them? What wasn’t he telling her?

It made Annie feel uneasy knowing Steve was keeping secrets from her. And maybe it wasn’t that big of deal. Maybe he was just babysitting them again and they were playing a game. A very elaborate game. But why at Will’s house? She knew kids were imaginative. Hell, it wasn’t even that long ago that she was one. Some might say she technically still was. But it seemed like they were taking everything really seriously; not even joking or messing around at all. What was that about? And why did it seem like Steve was playing along?

Nothing Billy did was justified but she could kind of get why he was so suspicious, because she kind of was too. And she hated that.

How was it that she could go from knowing Steve so well, almost more than she knew herself, to not knowing him at all? In what universe did that make sense? How was it fair?

He should probably go to a hospital, she reluctantly thought, staring at Billy’s still body.

Who knew what kind of stuff was pumping through his veins because seriously, what the hell was that needle all about? She could see his chest moving up and down so at least he was still alive. She almost didn’t care what happened to him but she didn’t wish death on anyone if she could help it. Anger was only temporary, death was not.

But why did she have to deal with it? Did she piss off some higher power? Was this some sick and twisted form of karma?

Maybe it was because she hadn’t returned her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird in sixth grade and lied to the librarian about it. Right after that happened their library had to start accepting donations because they were so low on reading material. What if that was her fault?

Heaving a sigh, Annie stood up from the floor and made her way into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with cold water from the sink before making her way over to Billy’s strewn body. She stared down at him for a few seconds, doubtful if this would even work or if it was just something the movies made up to seem possible. Licking her lips, she held the glass of water above him and slowly tipped it.

Water spilled over his face, washing away a bit of the blood that hadn’t yet dried and immediately his eyelids twitched. His brows furrowed and he jerked his head to the right, breathing in a bit of water through his nose and immediately sputtering from it. Annie sat the empty glass on the dresser next to them, eyes trained on Billy’s scrunched up face.

Once he finished coughing his eyes began to blink open. He sniffed and brought an unsteady hand up to wipe at his nose, pulling it away to see a smear of blood. He squinted and his forehead wrinkled, obviously disoriented and a little lost. Naturally his gaze slowly turned to meet Annie’s and the vague surprise was clear on his face. He carefully dropped his arm to the ground and returned her stare silently for a few seconds. Then he cleared his throat.

“You’re still here?”

His voice was raspy and she found the sound grated on her nerves. Her lip curled and before she knew what she was doing, she was on top of him with her fists slamming into whatever part of his body she could find. His face, his chest, his shoulders, anything.

“What the f—“ Billy quickly brought up his hands to defend himself, still a bit out of it and slightly dazed.

“You—“ smack, “—are—“ slap, “—such—“ punch, “—an—“ scratch, “asshole!”

Even still she had a hard time fighting against his strength and after a few seconds she was just swatting at midair while he was holding her wrists in his fists. She continued to snarl and growl and make a bunch of noises he hardly found intimidating, gazing up at her with a hint of confusion and mild irritation. It didn’t take long before her energy was spent and she was breathing heavily while glaring down at him with as much hatred as she could muster.

Billy panted along with her, a hard set in his brow. Then he tugged her down until her elbows were against his stomach and he snapped,

“Stop. Hitting. Me.”

He then shoved her back and released her wrists. Nostrils flared, she grudgingly swung her leg over his hip and pushed herself onto her knees, still giving him the third-degree through heated eye contact. He rolled his eyes and wiped his nose on the back of his hand again before carefully sitting up, wincing at the pain. He brought another hand up to his neck and pressed against the spot where the needle had entered.

“The hell did that bitch do to me?” Annie didn’t answer and Billy’s lips thinned, his jaw clenching before he shook his head as if to regain his bearings. He glanced around the room, noticing the obvious mess he’d caused and whatever had already happened prior to them arriving. “Jesus.”

“You’re an asshole,” she repeated for good measure. He huffed a laugh through his nose, clearly unimpressed, and her glare worsened. “Really. I didn’t know a single person was capable of being that much of an asshole but you proved me wrong. What you did to Steve was…” she shook her head, unable to come up with the right words. “You’re such an asshole. And Lucas! What did he ever do to you?”

“Would you just shut up for a minute?” Billy snipped, turning his own glare on her. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“Oh, I’m giving you a headache?” she raised her eyebrows challengingly. “You smashed a plate over Steve’s head!”

“Fucking hell,” with a bit of effort he managed to crawl onto his knees, arching his back a little and rolling his head to stretch out his neck. He then got about halfway to standing up before stumbling and catching himself on his hands, gasping on all fours. Apparently his equilibrium hadn’t quite caught up to the rest of him yet.

Annie frowned despite her temper. “You should go to a hospital.”

Billy snorted. “Yeah, not happening, sweets.”

“I’m serious,” she said, brows pulled together. “You don’t know what was in that needle. It wasn’t even sanitized.”

“Do you hear yourself right now?” Billy looked over at her with glazed eyes. He sniffed again and shook his head. “I’m fine, just give me a minute.”

“Your funeral,” Annie shrugged, not willing to fight with him on it any longer. If he wanted to be poisoned then that was fine by her. Bet that would teach him a lesson.

“Which car do you plan on getting to the hospital in?” Billy outstretched his arms, finally able to sit up on his knees again. “Do you see one around? Because if my memory serves me right, the little shits took my goddamn car!”

“Which wouldn’t have happened if you had just let it go,” she retorted. “But let me guess, that’s not in your vocabulary,” she mimicked his comment from earlier.

“Damn straight,” he replied, trying to stand up again. This time he succeeded but not without looking winded afterwards. He placed his hands on his hips and made quick work of sweeping the room with his eyes again. “The fuck happened to this place anyway?”

Annie didn’t know why she answered. “I don’t know.”

“I mean, it’s fucking weird, right?” Billy spun around with an intense look, shoulders squared like a cat ready to pounce despite the paleness of his cheeks. “What the hell were they doing out here? I don’t give a shit if you and Harrington are best pals, something was going on.”

She wasn’t pleased with the reminder. “I don’t know.”

“What do you know?” Billy countered snidely.

“That you’re an asshole,” she replied without missing a beat. “I thought we’d established that already.”

Billy shook his head, looking about ready to make a tasteless comment but thinking better of it. He turned away from her, eyeing the hallway next to them before making his way down it.

“Where are you going?” Annie demanded. When he ignored her she got to her feet with a huff and quickly followed him in case he decided to vandalize Will’s room or something just to spite his sister.

Instead, she found him in the bathroom with his hands in the sink. He leaned down and began to splash water over his face. The water ran red for a moment and then eventually settled into a light pink as it washed down the drain. He pulled back to glance up at himself in the mirror, chin dripping with water.

At least the blood was gone. He had a nice shiner below his left eye and his nose was a bit swollen but nothing too noticeable. His knuckles looked the angriest, a few cuts and bruises decorating his hands. He wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that he’d gotten into a fight. She wondered if his parents would care at all.

“Enjoying the view?”

Annie snapped out of her trance and blinked herself back into focus, realizing Billy was watching her through the mirror. She felt embarrassed despite the situation.

“Not nearly as much as you’d think,” she snapped without thinking, unknowingly admitting that she had to have been admiring at least a little in that case. “Especially not with all those bruises on your face.”

“Kinda suits me though, don’t you think?” he asked, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “Bit of a rugged handsome, eh?”

“Not even a little bit.”

He stood back up and turned to face her, stepping into her space until they were nearly nose-to-nose.

“You sure you didn’t hit your head on anything?” he asked lightly, a smirk curving up the side of his mouth before he brushed past her.

Annie inhaled slowly to reign in her annoyance before following after him into the kitchen this time. He began shuffling around in the cabinets and Annie opened her mouth to ask what he was doing but he apparently found what he was looking for. He retrieved a white bottle and snatched up a glass from the counter. Annie recognized it to be aspirin and he popped several pills in his mouth and threw back a few swigs of water.

“Do you really think that’s going to solve everything?” she asked with her arms crossed. “A few pain pills and you’re good as new?”

“Never failed me before,” Billy answered easily, taking another long drink. Annie’s brows furrowed.

“You get into fights often?” she replied, feigning disinterest.

“More than you’d know.”

The way he said it made her stop. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, along with something else. Anger? She couldn’t really tell. She tried thinking back to all those times she saw him in school. He seemed to always be with friends, or whatever closely represented the term in his eyes. Sure, he looked like the type to constantly make enemies and get into trouble but other than making snide remarks she’d never actually seen him get into a physical altercation with anyone.

Maybe he was talking about when he lived in California.

Billy finished his water and then tossed the glass in the sink. Annie winced at the sound it made and Billy turned to give her a false smile.

“Let’s go.”

He brushed past her again and began making his way towards the front door with a purpose. Annie was momentarily confused before she scuttled after him, mind racing.

“Go where?”

He threw the door open and a harsh bite of cold wind swept into the house that made Annie’s spine shiver. Billy didn’t seem to react and he stomped across the porch, the heels of his boots thumping on the stairs as he walked down them. Annie was quick to follow, disgruntled at seeing her breath fog up in front of her. How long were they in the house? She realized she’d never been paying attention to the clock. And then a sick sense of dread filled her stomach.

Her parents were going to kill her.

“Hope you’re nice and cozy,” Billy’s sarcastic tone pulled her out of her horrified thoughts. She tossed him a confused look and he nodded down at her apparel. She blinked at the leather jacket she was still wearing and balked. She’d completely forgotten about it. She noticed Billy’s unbuttoned, thin shirt and began peeling the jacket off.

“Oh, I completely forgot I was wearing it—“

“I don’t care, keep it on,” Billy waved her off as he stepped onto the road. Annie mindlessly kept up with his stride, her forehead wrinkling with the jacket halfway down her arms. She technically still had a light coat on underneath the jacket so she didn’t really need it.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“Nah,” Billy said carelessly. He began to pat his jean pockets and then scowled. “Damn it, left my smokes in the car.”

Annie pulled the jacket back up without thinking much of it. “Where are we going? To a hospital?”

He rolled his eyes. “Forget the hospital already.”

“Then tell me where we’re going,” she said impatiently, wrapping the jacket tighter around her body.

It was a bit unsettling walking down the middle of an unlit road at God knows what hour of the night, the trees on either side of them disorienting their view. The moon was high in the sky and it left little trails of light between the branches on the road in front of them, giving off this eerie vibe Annie wasn’t comfortable with.

“You’ll see,” Billy finally replied with the vaguest response that made Annie’s tonsils curl.

“I don’t think so,” she said immediately, pausing mid-stride. Billy continued on a few feet before finally realizing she wasn’t at his side anymore. He stopped and turned to cast an expectant look at her over his shoulder, one of his hands tucked inside his pockets. “There are only two options here. One,” she held up a finger and Billy raised his eyebrows, “is you take me home. That option’s a bit hazy because I don’t actually want you to know where I live so once we get to a place I recognize well we can just part ways and forget this ever happened. Or two, we can go to the nearest emergency room and get you looked at. There is no ‘we’ll see’ option on the table.”

“What if I put it on the table?” Billy asked after a moment of silence.

“I’ll take it right back off,” she countered easily.

Billy licked his lips, eyes skirting around the forest on either side of them before nodding to himself. He took a few steps towards her until they were only arm’s distance apart and Annie watched him warily.

“If I remember correctly,” Billy said, eyes glinting. “You promised to go to a party with me.”

Annie stared at him incredulously.

“I didn’t promise anything. Besides,” she motioned behind her wildly, “have you completely forgotten what happened back there? I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You’re going somewhere right now,” he remarked humorously.

Annie stuttered. “That’s only because I don’t know my way home.”

“So you’re using me,” Billy surmised.

“That’s not what I said.”

“It’s what you implied,” Billy took another step forward and it took everything in Annie not to take a step back and keep the distance between them. “So you need me to get you home but you don’t actually want me to know where home is, but you also don’t want to be anywhere near me and yet you have to be because you don’t actually know how to get home,” he squinted at her in false confusion. “Did I get that right?”

“You know what, forget it,” Annie pursed her lips and made a point of stepping around him. “I’ll find my own way home, I don’t need you for anything.”

She heard Billy’s footsteps trailing after her. “So you’re just going to guess how to get home and potentially get yourself lost?”

“Better than having to deal with you,” she replied snappishly.

“That’s real mature,” he said, catching up with her and walking by her side. “So because you don’t want to deal with me, you’re willing to put yourself at risk. What if someone finds you walking on the side of the road?”

She gave him a peeved look. “Like you did?”

He sighed and corrected himself. “Someone dangerous.”

“Still not seeing the difference.”

“You’re fucking impossible, you know that?” Billy said impatiently, an irritated press between his brows.

“I’m sorry, I just find it funny that you expect me to believe you actually have a conscience. You beat my best friend half to death but now you’re all concerned for my well-being? I don’t think so.”

“I didn’t beat him half to death,” Billy rolled his eyes as if she were being dramatic.

“Did you see his face?!” Annie yelled.

“Well excuse the fuck outta me for trying to figure out what the hell was going on with my goddamn sister!”

“I thought you said she wasn’t your sister?” Annie countered, looking at him closely. Billy gritted his teeth and exhaled loudly.

“She’s not,” he said, tone slightly less hostile. Annie watched him quietly for a few seconds, trying to read the expression on his face.

“I really don’t get you,” she told him honestly. She didn’t. He was so unpredictable, so unlike anyone she’d ever met before. When she thought he was going to do or say one thing, he pulled a complete 180 and did something totally unexpected. He beats Steve to a bloody pulp but then he comes back and says she shouldn’t walk home alone because of strangers. Nothing about him made sense to her. He was a walking contradiction.

Billy smiled mirthlessly. “It’s a fucking gift.”

They maintained eye contact for a good ten seconds before he gestured to the road with all the elegance of a four-year-old throwing a tantrum.

“So are we going or do you want to walk the opposite way like a brat?”

Annie mutely shook her head. She was almost too angry to say anything but there was something else there that made the anger a little easier to bear.

Then she motioned ahead.

“Lead the way.”