ledger_not_clean | Locked to solo

Locked to solo_junior

Natasha looked around the bar, noticing how many people were watching her. It made her nervous because she knew the First Order was looking for her, determined to find her before she could possibly find the Resistance. She'd gone directly to Maz's, knowing as well that the woman was her best chance at getting away. She hadn't gotten away unscathed though. She'd been shot and she was pretty badly injured, but she did her best to hide it in the way she carried herself.

Instead of asking too many questions Maz had just pointed to a man that she explained would help get Natasha off planet and far away, all she had to do was ask. So she started over, fighting the urge to limp. She knew she looked pretty battered up, but she could pretend it was nothing as she sat down beside the man, shifting the hood covering her head a bit which flashed her red hair, one of the biggest things she was trying to hide. "Are you looking for work?"

She looked around before looking at him again. "I need off planet and as far away as possible. I need to get away from anyone who could report back to the First Order and Maz said you're my best bet."

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He gave a little shrug, "Not putting me in as much danger as you might think, actually."

He shook his head then, as if brushing that off, adding: "General Organa is my mother. I've had at least one bounty hanging over my head since before I could walk." Which was as much of an explanation asn he was willing to give right at present.

Natasha stared at him, her jaw dropping as she took in that information. "Oh my god...thats...wow." She said, shaking her head. "Is that way you try and stay as far away from all of this conflict as you can?"

"Pretty much." There was more to it than that, certainly, but he figured if she knew about the General, she'd be smart enough to put the rest of the pieces together, that he'd trained with Luke. Most assumed he'd been there when the Knights of Ren had laid siege to it, before it had become the Hidden Academy.

He hadn't been, but only barely, and he had no idea where the place was now, though he suspected he'd be able to find his Uncle's presence if he reached far enough, but he never did, he was glad to be away from that line of teaching and from the isolation he'd felt there.

"I understand." She said nodding at him before settling again and just watching him for a long moment. "I understand why you would want to stay away...I probably would too if I had gone through what you did. Being that close to everything."

"She and I are... estranged." That was putting it gently, and Ben was ever-diplomatic about that sort of thing, "Which means I can't take you all the way there, but I can get you to someone who can."

A twitch of a smile followed, "But until then, you're stuck with me, sorry."

She nodded. "Though, it might be good to see her...sorry. Forget I said that. It isn't my business." She said softly before laughing and shaking her head.

"If its you I have to be stuck with, I can handle that." She said before pushing herself up slowly and leaning closer, gently kissing his cheek.

He'd been about to answer that first with something barbed, but he bit his tongue to keep it in, especially at her apology, she'd already been through hell and back and didn't need him making it worse.

Which was why he was surprised by the kiss, brow creasing just a little as he turned to study her face, "You don't have to, I mean, I'm not expecting you to, that's..." His brow creased just a little further at the double false-start, shaking his head a little as he finally collected himself enough to say: "That isn't something you have to offer. I'll still take you as far as I can."

"Ben...I know. I know you don't expect anything and that isn't why. I didn't do that out of...some sense of obligation. Believe me, I wouldn't do it if I thought you expected it. I'd throw myself out the airlock before I let someone think they had a right to me ever again." She said, laying her hand on his arm.

"And just because...it is implied doesn't mean I expect you to just take it." She smiled warmly before moving back to the bed, laying down again though turning her head to watch him.

And she definitely meant that, which made him smile, just a little, reaching out an almost-hesitant hand to pet over her hair gently, tucking it behind her ear and leaning in to press a kiss to her temple before he said: "Get some rest. We've still got a couple hours until our first stop, and I know passing out because of painkillers isn't the same thing as actual sleep."

That was definitely the voice of experience, though in his case it was generally less passing out from painkillers as it was just throwing himself into the deepest, shortest healing trance he could afford.

She tilted her head into that light press, smiling before tipping her head back so she could kiss his cheek. She smiled up at him, stretching just a bit before settling, letting the tiredness work its way over her before she yawned and closed her eyes.

He was tempted to give a little push with the Force to make sure she stayed asleep, but suspected that she wouldn't appreciate the assist, so he didn't do so.

Instead he returned to the cockpit to keep an eye on things, make sure that there were no proximity alerts, nothing that would require them to drop out of hyperspace before the intended time.

She slept well for a few hours, surprised at the fact when she woke up. She shifted, turning to look towards where he was, listening to the sounds of the ship around them and thinking about what had passed.

She smiled a bit to herself, carefully sitting up and stretching slowly.

Ben was still in the cockpit, relaxed in the pilot's seat, half-turned so that he could keep an eye on the controls and on her, as well as being able to read the datapad in his lap, though there was a good chance that the datapad was mostly for show.

He did turn around more fully when he heard her moving, giving a small smile, "Feeling better?"

She nodded, stretching again before slowly getting up and making her way up to the front next to him. "Much. I needed that rest, thank you." She said sincerely, smiling warmly at him before sitting down. "How far are we?"

"Almost there, actually. About another twenty minutes or so in hyperspace unless we get a proximity alarm before then, and about the same in realspace once we pop out again."

He swung his chair back around so that he could get a look at the readouts, everything right where it should be, no surprises.

She nodded, leaning against his chair and looking over the instruments before moving to sit in a chair beside his. "Sounds good to me." She said with a smile.

"Well good, because that's what you're getting, regardless." He replied, though there was humor there, it wasn't a jab at all.

He looked her over a moment, just briefly before asking: "Feeling better?" She seemed to be moving more easily at least, and he was going to take that as a good sign, regardless of the fact that he would be one to keep moving even with an injury.

"Much better. Still tender, but definitely better and I have you to thank for it." She said, resting her hand on his arm for just a moment.

"I'm sure I'll be tender for a few days, but I'll be alright eventually."

He nodded, "Yeah, probably going to ache for a while, just the way it goes." He gave a little shrug, "I know field medic-ing, but I'm no miracle worker."

There was that twitch of a smile again, "And hey, it worked, you're blood is actually staying inside you where it belongs now, so that's a plus."

"All thanks to you. I probably would have ended up bleeding out if I'd been left to patch myself up. Especially since I didn't actually have any first aid stuff on me." She said, shrugging a shoulder.

"Pretty sure it was mostly thanks to Maz." He replied, though there was a faint smile there, "But I'll take it." He shook his head, "Self-surgery is never as easy as it sounds like it should be."

"Like I said, I would have made a mess. It would have been more like me actually trying to stitch myself up? And I'm not so great at it." She snorted, shaking her head.

He just nodded, though the smile was still in place, only barely bitten back, "Yeah, that was kind of my point."

It had been enough of a mess with him doing it, and he could actually see what he was doing.

She shrugged, tilting her head as she looked at him. "You know, when we get where we're going, you should get some rest. And let me find a way to repay you for everything."

"That's what making planetfall is for, rest, regroup, send messages that need to be sent so we know where to go next."

He had a general idea of where the Resistance had been keeping themselves, but knew that he was going to need specifics, if he could get them, or at the very least, get in contact with Han so that they could meet somewhere and have Han take her the rest of the way.

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