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WHO Junior (

androit), Kylo Ren (

derriphan)
WHAT Two brothers separated by fate, brought back together again by the same.
WHEN Uhhh, just pre-movie. During the search for Luke's map.
WHERE Finalizer, I think!
WHY because why not

After coming to blows with a contingent of Stormtroopers planetside, Junior hadn't really expected to wake up in one piece. Or wake up at all, that had always been a possibility. Despite the fact that he wasn't a fighter, he did dangerous things for the sake of his mother and the Resistance, or his father and their smuggling. There was always risk involved, a cost-benefit analysis that he tended to ignore in favor of being there for his family. It wasn't quite a conscious reaction to the Ben's abandonment fifteen years ago, but if someone poked at it, he couldn't well deny the possibility.

Everything involving Ben had a lot of complicated feelings surrounding it, after all.

His whole body ached, senses flaring out in pain before he could stop himself and, even if it was obvious he was awake by now, Junior kept his eyes closed and took stock before anything else. His back was a blazing sun of pain where he had taken a tonfa just barely shielded by his meager knowledge of using the Force to move and hold objects. The rest of him was a mass of pain and bruises but his back was probably the worst-off. Not a good scenario if he wanted to get back home anytime soon. Next, he reached out with his Force sense — one of two things that came naturally to him — and halted almost immediately for the presence sitting right above him.

Eyes shooting open, Junior found himself face-to-face with a hardened mask. One he had never seen before in person, but depictions and dreams were more than enough. "Ben?"

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There was always a risk.

Admittedly after fifteen years he had, perhaps, convinced himself that the risk of running into any of them – much less his brother – was minimal. Leia, he knew, had her duties and as for Han – well... whatever hope he'd had that his loss would somehow reconcile them (meager, fragile thing that it was) had long since been dashed to pieces.

Yet here they were, with Junior tucked into one of the Finalizer's medical cots, looking like he'd just seen a ghost.

Inclining his head, Ren considered correcting him. Telling him that Ben Solo was dead, that he had been dead for fifteen years and that the mere speaking of his name was considered blasphemy. That would be the right thing to do, certainly. The mature thing.

Instead he leaned forward, the light catching the ridges of his mask, making it look, if anything, more ominous. Less animal and more nightmare creature. “Idiot.”

His stature lent well to the image he was trying to maintain, Junior would give him that much. Were it someone else under that mask, someone who hadn't hidden under the blankets during hide and seek or made sticky snacks to try and catch on Chewbacca's fur or hid away in the compartments of the Falcon just to see if they could go on adventures with their father as a small child, maybe it would have scared him. As it was, it only served to disorient him because this was his big brother under that mask, all that black, calling him an idiot just like when they were younger.

Mouth opening, Junior said the first thing that came to mind. "What happened to your voice?" That modulation wasn't natural, and he found himself worried that somewhere along the line, Ben had become injured and closer to their grandfather than he would have liked. Without meaning to intrude, his hand lifted automatically to reach for the mask while at the same time he snaked out his senses to feel for any kind of wound or pain to explain it. Clearly, there had to be some reason, right?

Then it finally caught up what, exactly, Ben was saying through that ridiculous mask of his. "Wait, what did I do?" Surely he wasn't blaming Junior for being attacked and subsequently captured?

It's a good thing that Junior managed to hold back since the instinctive jerking back from the touch would have likely only alarmed him further.

"It's the mask." Briefly he considered removing it but since Medical was almost certainly being monitored - standard protocol, though undoubtedly their new guest would have been enough to warrant some additional scrutiny - and wiping the feed was liable to attract more attention, he ultimately decided against it. They couldn't afford this particular revelation getting around.

Settling back into the chair he'd been occupying, "you know what." Said as if it should be obvious, because it was obvious. "I wasn't aware that you were running errands for the Resistance now."

Letting his hand drop down to his side, Junior let himself inspect his brother for a long, silent moment. He did that, sometimes, just ignored what was going on to finish processing what was happening in his own head. Too many thoughts and not enough time in polite company to work through them. Ben always understood it, knew what it was like to have thoughts that couldn't always be sorted. It was just another in the long line of worries they should have put together.

His brother was right here, healthy and whole, and rocking the dark lord look more than was sane. There was no part of him that was uncovered and yet Junior imagined he could see behind the mask, below the protective layers, see his brother all over as the man he'd grown into thanks to fifteen years apart. He knew that this entire situation would not be as cut and dry as going found him! and dragging him back home. There was a rift in Ben's mind that needed to be addressed, and Junior decided right then and there that he would not allow them to be separated again.

"Nice design," he said once his thoughts had come back together. Aesthetically speaking, the mask wasn't... bad. It clearly fulfilled its purpose. Junior just wanted it gone. Even he could tell why that would be a bad idea just from his few moments awake in the sterile, impersonal wing of—somewhere First Order-ish.

He shifted in the bed, wincing where he couldn't hide the tug of all his aching body parts telling him what an idiot he was. Even his body was agreeing with his brother here. "I was just doing my chores," he excused, a little more forced than he would have liked. "Helping out how I can."

“Don't be cute,” he snapped, the anger so sudden and sharp that even the vocoder was struggling to flatten it out into something flat and impassive. “Do you have any idea what would have happened to you had I not intervened?”

Suffice it to say he'd left several Stormtrooper-sized smudges in his wake upon realizing just who it was they'd managed to pin down on that kriff-forsaken little planetoid. He'd hit the one with such force that they'd literally come apart at the seams.

It had not been a good day for anyone, and he had yet to deal with either Hux or the Supreme Leader – the former, no doubt, already chomping at the bit at the prospect of getting his hands on their new guest.

“Did you manage to retrieve whatever they sent you for?”

"You always intervene," Junior stated in reply. It had been a long, long time since his brother had come to his rescue but there was no doubt in Junior's mind that it happened now when it had been needed most because Ben would always be there when Junior needed him most. There was no other option; the universe bowed to this fact. "When it matters, Ben, you are there."

He felt his mouth pull, a smile as involuntary as breathing despite any attempts not to. The somberness of the situation was not lost on him, but here he was together again with his long lost brother and one of the first things he did was get grumpy and upset, calling him an idiot in place of any heartfelt greeting that might currently be beyond him, and yet Junior knew they weren't really mad at each other. How could they be? This reunion was some kind of miracle, that they would ever come back together and not even at opposite ends of blaster rifles or saber blades. Sure, Junior was a bit beat up and in more pain than he wanted to admit (unlikely he was being given much in the way of painkillers considering his position) and they were current bickering aboard a hostile and deadly First Order ship of some sort, but... now that the Solo boys had come back to one another, they could deal with it. He was certain of that.

"It was just reconnaissance," he answered, still unable to wipe the grin from his face entirely. Perhaps not the best leverage point in getting out unharmed but the mission had been important. Feelers were being sent out to every corner of the galaxy to find clues to their uncle's disappearance. He didn't even consider that the nature of his errand should remain confidential. "I'm good at those types of things."

There wasn't a word for the noise Ren made in response to that - the bastard child of a huff and a snort rendered all the more ridiculous through the mask. If it weren't there he'd be reaching up, rubbing at the bridge of his nose like he used to do when they were kids.

"Subtlety was never really your strong point."

Not an insult, not really; things had to be desperate though since Skywalker had all but vanished and the First Order was slowly gaining ground. The Senate might be sticking their fingers in their collective ears and pretending that everything was fine but their mother knew better. "How long before they know you're missing?"

Information was key. The more he knew, the better he could plan. Look at the angles, make the necessary adjustments.

Junior recognized the noise, the motion, and relaxed as he could into the cot. It wasn't a surprise that Ben hadn't been completely destroyed underneath all that dark and evil that had smothered him since they were children, but the gratification of seeing it for a fact was more than he could express. It was relief to a burden he had been carrying for nearly thirty years, hope of finding their way back to the proper path even if they had been lost for a while along the way.

"You know me too well to try for subtle," he allowed. Words weren't his strong suit, anyway, so whatever ended up coming out when talking with others was about the extent of how much he would try. There were other things he could waste his energy worrying about. He sighed for the continuation. "I wasn't due to report for two days. Depending on how long I've been out."

That was another factor. His body wasn't going to cooperate, and his skills in the Force were undeniably passive. The most he could do was provide veiled support and let Ben cover them. He would do everything he could in the meanwhile to make up for it.

Edited 2016-02-28 01:11 (UTC)

Two days was not ideal but it was manageable, especially given the extent of Junior's injuries - not fatal, not even close, but extensive. The First Order didn't skimp on their training and Ren tended not to travel with anything less than the Order's finest.

Hux was going to have a fit when he realized just how many had been lost in that little skirmish, by Ren's own hand no less.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek, "several hours give or take." A day, possibly. "I'll review the channels later."

Two days was a lifetime when in the hands of the enemy. Junior wasn't sure what was going on in that head of Ben's but he was willing to bet they were about to be put on a tight schedule. Something had to give, and Junior didn't know what the stakes were or where they were set. It was frustrating, to say the least, but Junior also wasn't a stranger to being kept out of the loop without some intense work on his own part to break in. Hopefully it wouldn't be so difficult here. They didn't have time.

"What are you thinking?" he asked intently. If they had to make some sort of move, he didn't want to be left blind. The time he had been out of commission was both a blessing and a curse when taking into account that the Resistance would basically be coming right into a trap if they were to come for Junior, but any rest at all was doing him good right now. "Whatever it is, you don't get to try and deal with it alone."

In this case it wasn't a conscious decision to exclude Junior - habit, perhaps; as children Ben might have been the mastermind behind most of their trouble-making but was always the first to take the blame when possible, if only because this was what older brothers were meant to do - but the fact was that he had no idea what he was going to do. Only that he had to do something and soon, or they'd both be in serious trouble.

"Review the channels, see if anything can't be traced." Find something, anything, to justify a need for further investigation. They were blind, so it stood to reason that their guest (captive) be brought along to assist in ferreting out whatever information they needed.

Plenty of things could happen that far out of range.

"You realize I can't actually help you trace anything," Junior said mildly. There was only so much he could do for the sake of his brother, but the fact of the matter was that this was still the enemy's stronghold, still completely unsafe waters. Just because Ben was here did not mean he could cooperate, especially not for the sorts of information the First Order was going to want. Even if they took him in for torture or other forceful means, he wasn't going to bend on that — as much as he was capable of.

He sighed, grimaced. He wanted to help Ben but for now there was nothing he could do. Ever the helpful sidekick, he felt rather wretched for being put in the impossible scenario where he still had to consider his brother's allegiances counter to his own. He couldn't imagine what it was like for Ben right now. "Doesn't mean we can't put on a show."

Inclining his head, you could almost hear the way his mouth ticked upward. "I expect nothing less than total obstinance."

It was a warning as much as an observation. He didn't doubt Junior's resolve in the slightest, which if anything only concerned him further. The idea that he might have to torture his own brother made his stomach churn unpleasantly.

No, it wouldn't come to that. He'd make sure of it.

"I mean it. You don't speak to anyone, you understand."

It wasn't hard for the two of them to find a wavelength again. No matter what they'd gone through in their own time, they were still the same people underneath it all, still brothers, still had things in common that just couldn't be denied. This was something they knew was going to happen even if it was going relatively unspoken. Junior let his eyes crinkle in something between amusement and unpleasantness.

"Afraid they might hear it in our voices?" he asked. Even with that mask on and the voice-changing effects, there was something undeniably similar about their tones and cadences. No doubt their luck would dictate that someone might put the two together enough for suspicions to rise. "Don't worry, I'll keep mum. Maybe pretend they got my throat in the attack."

"Doubtful but not impossible." Much as he might like to needle Hux about his people's incompetence, the First Order tended not to employ fools. Someone - and with their luck the wrong someone - was bound to notice something eventually.

"Good." He debated whether or not it might be worth having a word with the Medical Officer currently on duty. Persuasion had never really been his strong point, preferring a decisive show of force as opposed to relying too much on more persnickety skills.

"Try to rest in the meantime. When we move, we move."

Edited 2016-03-02 11:08 (UTC)

That was that, then. What else could they do? Lashing out aimlessly wasn't going to help, and whatever time limit they were against wasn't something they could broadcast in the hopes of making the First Order move up Junior's importance in their plans. No one had any idea what — or who, really — they were sitting on with his capture. It was mostly a curse, but a minor blessing since it gave them time to sit down and talk before everything would crumble down around them.

"And we move together," Junior said, feeling a dread that somehow Ben still hadn't gotten onto that same thought. It was paranoia, plain and simple, his faith in Ben not extending to Ben's own well-being. Not after all this time in the hands of Snoke. Ben needed someone to watch out for him just like he had done for Junior when they were small. Lifetimes ago.

Regardless of that thought, he really did need to rest. Sighing, Junior tried to settle further into the cot and turned his gaze to the ceiling. "It's too bad you can't stay, but I doubt there's a way to excuse you sitting by a prisoner's side the entire time he's sleeping."

Turning when Junior spoke, and it was a good thing he had the mask - even if his brother had a way of parsing even his slightest expressions.

His concerns were his brother. His concern would always be with his brother, the drive to protect him practically written into his DNA - of course it was hardly unique to him, which was why he could already see the impending argument that would ensue when the time to act finally came.

However, for the moment he focused on what he did know. That, for the moment at least, they had some wiggle room, provided Junior could keep his mouth shut.

Still. He reached over, curling his fingers around Junior's wrist and squeezed - he'd had to keep himself from doing this while he'd slept, afraid of the scrutiny it might draw, but perhaps that had been a mistake and if things didn't work out as he'd hoped he didn't want their last moments together to be ones filled with regret.

Worrying about Junior speaking up was never the problem. He was quiet and difficult to talk to by nature; being put under some legitimate form of distress was only going to worsen that. When it came to communication, their connection as twins was generally more valuable than using the Force simply because Ben had always known what those feelings meant on the personal level. Never mind that Junior's own connection to the Force had been meager at best until their connection had been clouded fifteen years past.

Breath came to Junior like he was trying to extract oxygen from water. Choking up here and now wasn't going to do anything but even the contact through cloth and leather, small and brief and overall inconsequential, felt powerful enough to move the stars. He swallowed against it, forced his lungs to keep working against the tide of emotion. His lips curled into a small smile, one of hope and assurance, before it faded only for the sake of posterity. "Go. Do your dark lord thing," he implored. The slight crack to his voice was telling enough that drawing attention to it would only make it worse.

They were going to get out of this. They were. Maker take them all, Junior would not allow this opportunity to pass them by.

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