Chapter 24

Analytic eyes regarded the unconscious red haired man in front of her with the cold calculative nature Maya had spoken of. He was slumped in a metal framed chair with his hands bound by energy cuffs to the metal table in front of him. His head lolled to one side exposing his neck and the dark coloured bruising that adorned his skin. Kit had signed off on Acer's discharge from medical and the vulture had been transported directly to the holding cells, which was where Breha had joined him and taken up her position opposite him. Her lips drew into a thin line as she picked up the blaster scope from the table in front of her and clicked it on. Silver tattoos immediately illuminated across Acer's chest and Breha narrowed her eyes as she read his bloody accomplishments like they were words on a page, committing every detail about him to memory.

Her time with Poe had been cut short, both had duties they needed to attend to. BB-8 had been chirping away about how it wasn't a coat stand when Poe's communicator had sounded from his belt – the General required his presence. Only moments later Breha's communicator had sounded – Kit announcing that Lara had awoken in medical. The pair had shared another chaste kiss before parting ways, BB-8 and Poe heading back in the direction of Leia whilst Breha made her way back to medical.

She arrived in medical, noting immediately that Acer no longer occupied his bay. Kit had been by her side the instant she entered the room and wasted no time in informing her that he'd transferred the vulture to the holding cells. It was a strange wash of pleasure he felt as he watched the concern fade from the young mechanics face.

"Where's Lara?" Had been her next question. Kit motioned with his hand to conscious woman.

"Breha!" Lara had called out to her boss the moment she saw her enter her bay. "I'm so sorry!" She gasped as she hurried to her feet and wrapped her arms around the younger woman. Breha blinked in surprise as she slowly wrapped her arms around the older woman.

"Lara, you have no reason to apologise." Breha said as she pulled away from the woman but kept her hands securely on the blonde's shoulders.

"But I called you up there." Lara protested, her eyes welling with tears. "I-I" She fumbled, Breha's brow furrowed with concern and she pulled the woman into a hug. "I'm so sorry." Lara murmured into the dark haired mechanics shoulder. Breha caught Kit's gaze over Lara's shaking shoulder and he gave her a knowing look before respectfully screening off the bay, giving the two women some privacy. Breha ran a soothing hand over Lara's back.

"It's okay Lara, everyone's okay." She assured the woman. Lara seemed to gather herself enough to pull away from Breha. "I need you to tell me everything that happened." Lara nodded and wiped at the tears on her cheeks with her sleeves. She inhaled deeply as she on the bed and Breha followed her example and took a seat in the chair by the side of the bed.

"He attacked us from behind before we even made it to the station." Lara began. "He took Jura hostage and threatened to kill her if I didn't comply with his demands. When Jura tried to fight back he injected her with some blue liquid and she just collapsed in his arms." Lara faltered, "I thought he was going to…" She trailed off. Breha's lips were a thin line as she grasped Lara's hand supportively. "He had me radio back to central command and request you. Breha he knew you by name." She looked at the younger woman with concern.

"I wish I could explain this to you Lara, but there are somethings that I cannot speak about." Breha sighed. Lara swallowed thickly.

"That's what he said you'd say." Lara replied. Breha stiffened in her seat. "He said you'd done terrible things Breha." She said quietly.

"Does he know who we are Lara?" Breha asked lowly. "Does he know we're the resistance?"

"I don't think so. And I didn't tell him." She replied, watching Breha carefully. "He asked about our weapons strength but not who we are." Lara hesitated. "Breha, what he said about you. Is it true?" She asked quietly.

"Thank you for telling me what happened Lara." Breha ignored her question as she stood from the chair. "I'm glad that you're okay." She added as she squeezed the older woman's hand.

"Breha." Lara called after her boss as she stepped out of the medical bay. Breha had only spared Kit a glance as she breezed out of medical as quickly as she had entered it causing the medic to stare at her retreating form with a deepening frown.

Once out in the corridors and on her way to the holding cells she'd pulled her communicator from her belt and raised it to her lips.

"Iivan, manage to get anything from our guest's ship?" She asked across the secure line.

"Plenty boss, you're going to want to see this." Iivan replied. Breha paused in her step and quickly made the decision to head to the storage unit opposed to the holding cells.

Breha entered the large hanger quickly passing by all of the non-Republic ships the resistance had on standby for covert missions. Iivan was at the very end, near the main hanger doors that lead out onto the tarmac.

"What have you found?" Breha asked as she joined the man next to the confiscated stealth ship.

"You mean apart from the fact this is some of the most sophisticated stealth technology I've ever seen?" Iivan began as he motioned to the dark, sleek ship. Breha cocked an eyebrow up. That was high praise indeed from a man like Iivan. The elder gentleman had joined the resistance from the Republic itself and as such had been exposed to the latest toys released by the Republics R&D departments. "I found this." Iivan bent down and picked up a fist sized data store. "It looked out of place compared to the other tech." He explained as he handed it to Breha. "I can't get into it though. I assume it's some sort of guidance processor."

"Shit." Breha cursed quietly as she recognised the device, a cold stab of dread hit her stomach and radiated outwards, slowly consuming all of her. Iivan paused in his ramblings and looked over Breha in concern.

"You know what it is?" He asked. Breha swallowed and nodded.

"It the nav-guide from my father's ship." Breha explained. The ship they had left behind at Tessler. She turned the device over in her hands and quickly made her way over to a terminal on the wall. Iivan followed her and watched with growing concern as she exposed a hidden port on the device and plugged it into the terminal.

"The nav-guide?" Iivan questioned. In normal ships, particularly freight ships that had a tendency to run the same routes, the nav-guides stored information on recent destinations with the aim to make navigation easier for the pilot. Since the resistance operated in secrecy they either disabled these devices, or if they were essential to the ship's safety protocols installed an auto-delete to the device. "Does it not have an auto-delete?"

"It has one." Breha shook her head as she tapped at the terminal. "I put it there myself when I was refitting the ship with Chewie." The furrow on her brow deepened as she rapidly scanned through the layers of code that appeared on the screen in front of her. "… How did you do it?" She mumbled and Iivan knew she wasn't speaking to him. She suddenly stopped scrolling and stepped back from the computer, the heels of her palms suddenly coming to rest on her temples and her wide eyes re-read over a particular fault in the code in front of her. A quiet curse slipped past her lips. "Oh, he's smart." Breha exhaled a mixture of awe and fury brewing deep in her stomach.

"He hacked the nav-guide, that's how he found us?" Iivan asked. Breha pulled her eyes from the terminal and looked to Iivan, nodding.

"Yeah. I didn't think it was possible." Breha admitted quietly, cursing her over confidence. "You need to report this is General Organa and Admiral Ackbar immediately, there are ships out there currently with that auto-delete written into them." Breha ordered as she collected herself. "We need to change the protocol, all ships need to run without nav-guides even if that involves re-writing the safely protocols for the ship."

"Right boss." Iivan nodded. Breha stepped away from him and went to make her leave. "Where are you off to?" he asked.

"Be rude to keep our guest waiting." She replied, eyes hard. "Unless there's anything else you want to show me?" She asked. Iivan shook his head and watched as the fierce young woman turned and strode out the way she had entered. From the storage unit she'd made her way straight to the holding cells and taken her seat across the table from Acer, patiently waiting for the mohawked man to wake up.

Acer groaned and immediately regretted doing so as a fresh wave of pain radiated from his tender throat. He slowly blinked his eyes opened, brow furrowing as the blurry image became clearer. He saw the energy cuffs first and gently tried pulling against them, lips turning downwards when he felt the strength in them. His gaze then rose from the table and settled on the woman sat opposite him. He drank in the way she sat seemingly comfortably back in the chair, one leg crossed over the other, hands resting in her lap, but he could see the tension threaded through her body. She was like a coiled spring ready to snap. His eyes narrowed and he coughed to clear his throat.

Breha's expression didn't lighten as she leant forward in her chair and picked up the cup of water on the table. Acer watched her curiously as she took a mouthful herself before offering it to him, he looked suspiciously at it.

"Figured I'd try a nice approach first." Breha explained her voice rolled over him like silk. Acer's mouth quirked at the corner as he easily caught the threat veiled by the silk of her voice. I'll play nicely for now, but don't think I'm above beating what I want from you. The cup of water warned him. He accepted her warning for now and welcomed the soothing coolness the water provided for his throat. His gaze never wavered from her as he continued to study her from over the rim of the cup she held for him.

"My throat appreciates that you did." He replied when she took the water away and placed it on the table between them. "So let me guess you want to know who I am, why I'm here or maybe more importantly how I found you?" Acer teased. Breha's eyes glinted with dangerous amusement as she watched him try to establish control of the interaction between the pair.

"No Acer, not particularly." She smirked causing Acer's confidence to waver. "You came for me that was obvious from the moment you forced one of our own to call me up to the station." Breha began. "And whilst you were drooling on the floor I took a little look at your ship, impressive vessel by the way, and stumbled across a very familiar nav-guide." All amusement fell from Acer's face.

"How long was I out?"

"Only a few hours. I work quickly." Breha grinned teasingly. Acer's teeth ground together as he glared at the woman opposite him, his hand itched to smack the smugness from her face.

"The hell do you want then?" he growled. Breha settled back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head to the side curiously.

"I had time to have a little read whilst you were out too." She commented, choosing to ignore his question. Acer followed her gaze to the table and recognised the scope from one of his blasters. "You're well decorated." His gaze rose to meet hers once again. "Truly terrifying really." She added with a lightness to her voice. "Makes me wonder why someone so reportedly violent would drug two adversaries opposed to killing them?" Breha levelled him with a hard stare.

"They weren't my target." Acer growled lowly.

"If Veeta taught you anything, then you and I both know that target or not, if you're in the way then your fate's the same." Breha said causing Acer to stiffen in his seat, a reaction that didn't go unnoticed by Breha. "Why did you spare them?"

"They were hostages." Lie.

"The real reason." Breha growled dangerously.

"That is the-" He was cut off as Breha snapped from her seat like the coiled spring he'd likened her to and her hand clasped around his throat. She wasn't applying any dangerous amount of pressure but the contact was enough to shoot pain through the damaged skin.

"Like I warned you. I'll play nicely for as long as you tell the truth." Breha hissed lowly. Acer's eyes met hers and he caught a glimpse the Relik people feared so much.

"It felt wrong." Acer murmured quietly. Breha eyed the man for a moment before releasing her hold on him and resuming her seemingly calm position in the chair opposite him. "Killing them, it felt wrong."

"And the thought of killing me doesn't feel wrong?" Breha questioned.

"You've taken everything from me!" Acer bellowed in reply, his fists slamming down on the table. Breha's lip curled in sour amusement.

"For me to be able to take something, implies that you actually had something." Breha replied coldly. Acer exhaled angrily through his nose as he glared at the woman opposite him. Breha shook her head slightly and ran her tongue slowly over her bottom lip. "I used to be like you Acer. I swore myself to Veeta, just like you did, I answered his every call, his every whim. Even believed, like you, that I had status and possessions. But it was all Veeta, he provides you with a psudo-freedom to keep your loyalty at its strongest. Convinces you that it's all your choice. But I had nothing. You had nothing." Breha stood from her chair and stared down at the visibly shaken man opposite her. "Ending Veeta didn't take anything from you, Acer. The only difference between then and now is instead of having a false freedom under Veeta thumb, you are now actually a free man." And with that Breha turned and left the red haired man to reflect on her words.

Breha closed the door to Acer behind her and exhaled heavily, eyes closing as she worked to calm her heart rate. A door to her left opened and out stepped her parents and Poe. The three of them had been in the observation room to Acer's, a one way screen allowing them to see and hear her exchange with the vulture.

"You can be scary when you want to be, do you know that?" Han broke the silence. Breha blinked at him in surprise before a faint smile pulled at her lips and she shook her head in amusement.

"Yeah I think a girl was screaming it at me in medical earlier." She replied with dry humour.

"What do you make of him?" Leia asked before Han and Breha could sink deeper into a battle of wit. Breha turned to look at her mother and her face grew serious.

"I was telling the truth when I said I was just like him." Breha replied. "That is how I was under Veeta's control." She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "And yet here I am now." She left the suggestion unspoken.

"I think it would be wise to keep him here for a little while." Poe said, following on from Breha's unspoken suggestion. "See how he reacts." Leia frowned thoughtfully.

"I'll discuss it with Admiral Ackbar." She finally decided. "Along with the reprogramming of force knows how many ships." She added with a sigh.

"And perhaps also the development of the Resistance ground forces?" Breha suggested earning surprised looks from all three. "If it had been solely down to them to back me up against Acer, I'd have been dead by the time they got to me." She explained.

"Fantastic." Han rolled his eyes. Leia shared the sentiment silently but her gaze quickly softened and like the flick of a switch she went from General to mother. She reached forwards and took one of Breha's hands on her own.

"Get some rest Bree," She said softly. Breha nodded silently to her mother and squeezed her hand gently. She then looked up to her father who without saying a word managed to convey his agreement with Leia's suggestion. Leia let go of her daughters hand and walked past her, Han following after her. Breha followed them with her eyes for a moment before turning and looking up at Poe. The second their eyes met he welcomed her into his embrace, planting a kiss on the crown of her head.

"You're a pretty fierce interrogator." Poe commented. "Any other talents you want to tell me about?" He raised a brow. Breha leant away from his chest so she could look him in eye.

"What's the fun in me telling you?" She replied. "Those are for you to discover Commander Dameron." Poe bit his bottom lip in amusement as he gazed down at the woman in his grasp.

"Mission accepted."

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Okay so this is just a small message to firstly reassure you all that I do plan on continuing this fanfic. That being said my exams are quite literally just around the corner so if I'm not updating weekly I apologise now. I have soooo much planned for this fic so please don't worry if I miss an update. Xx

To RglStarwars: THEY DID! Haha I've been dying to write that for weeks now haha. Thank you so much for your review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D And yes! That is exactly what I was going for with Poe's reaction! I rewatched the Finn-Poe escape scene from TFA so many times to get inspiration for his reaction and to keep him in character. Also I am beyond flattered that you recommended my fic to a friend. Thank you X As for "protective daddy-han" that didn't go down so well with Breha the first time haha.

To feelthatfire: Gah yay :D so happy to hear that I got the pacing of the romance right and that Breha's reveal of her past was believable. And for sure, Maya is going to be a tough one. Hope they chapter went some way to explaining Acer's motives.

To Bluedog02: No don't be dead! Haha. And definitely cloud-city haha (that one made me grin). And yes Damerolo hit the fanfic big style! Thank you so much for your review I really can't express how much a reaction like that means to me, like seriously! To call an original character part of a OTP is INSANE! Like mind blowing insane :D To put this in league with the actually canon is one of the greatest compliments so thank you so much and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

To JunJunyil: Thank you for your review! And I've actually read Scavenged Renegade and for you to put my fic in the same class as theirs is a massive compliment thank you so much! As for plot twists I hope I can keep you guessing in future chapters! And have no fears Poe and Breha aren't going to go from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye. I am firmly committed to making this a slow burn, believable romance :D I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

To Cindy: Thank you for your review and YES! It's been a long journey to get there but they've finally kissed.

To heroherondaletotherescue: Haha, I did keep that one secret for quite some time but the explanation is finally there! And I'm glad you liked Poe's reaction I mentioned above that I watched the Finn-Poe escape from TFA a few times to try and get his reaction in character. He was so ready to accept and trust Finn that I figured he wouldn't just forget the Breha he's grown close to. And no need to apologise! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

To Jules: Welcome to Namesake! I can't explain how incredible it is that you guys are sharing my fic with each other! Gah! Thank you so much for your review and I hope the fic doesn't disappoint!

To Sky65: Gah! Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this one too

To marflark: Yes! It is finally here! Big reveal of Breha's past and Poe-Breha finally kiss. Gah! So glad you appreciate the fact it all took place in her workshop, wasn't sure if many would pick up on the fact I had the scene set in there :D Also so pleased to hear that both Poe and Breha were in character throughout the romance scene. So so happy that you loved it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

To the Guest from 24th May: yay! Thank you for your review! X

To Lovefiction2016: Thank you for your review

To JustDreamAboutIt: Oh my God review and reply to reviews would be hilarious with Gifs haha. Thank you so much for your review. I'm so pleased that you liked the chapter and I hope that you enjoyed this one!

To the Guest from 26th May: Yay! Always love a fan who appreciates the slow-burn haha. But even slow burns reach boiling point eventually and voila the kiss :D And yes! Maya is going to be tough for sure!

To Jaqi: yay! Thank you! It always feels incredible for someone to compliment an original character so much! And to them compliment my plot, writing style and depiction of canon characters, wow, seriously thank you! And yes! That is exactly what I was going for with Ben! I've put a load of work into his character development because I really want his turn to the darkside to be believable haha! I hope you liked this chapter.

To Ardoa88: Yay! Welcome to fanfiction Ardoa88! And firstly so glad that my lack of practise didn't show through haha! And it's a massive relief to know that I kept both in character throughout the romantic interaction :D And Holy crap! Wanting George Lucas to read this and make another trilogy! … like that's rendered my speechless, actually speechless. Gah! Thank you. Best compliment ever! Now! None of this "much less fantastic" business I took a wander over to A Smuggler's Story and you go! That's one hell of a first chapter! Keep up the good work!