Chapter Text
She placed her green satin ribbon between the pages of her new book to mark her place. Rey pushed it atop the nightstand. It had long since lost her interest. Then she hopped off the bed, made her way over to the bureau, and gripped its smooth oaken edge with both hands. Rey shook her head to rid herself of all the cobwebs. She’d been feeling a tad bit woozy since she stopped taking the Laudanum. Rey had been feeling rather peaked. Doc said it was to be expected.
Her thoughts of Ben returned, rumbling through her mind like a steam engine.
Rey’s friends constantly warned her about him. Finn said he didn’t like the way he looked. Said there was something creepy about him. He also said she needed to be extra careful around him. Maybe he was right. But people had often cautioned her about the difficult struggle she would encounter out west. The harsh life she would be facing. Rey could only imagine what lay before her. But despite all the obstacles with emigrating early on, she had settled in just fine and dandy.
With the help of Kay and the Ersos... The Ersos. She shut her eyes and still saw flashes of pain and death. It made her shudder and shake her head again, trying to erase their horrible fate from her mind.
Deep down inside she couldn’t believe that he was not responsible for such a crime. Ben was not capable of it. Rey had high hopes that their new friendship might fair just as well as her journey had. He did have a brusque side to him, somewhat sharp and severe. Most men did. Rey supposed that made him all the more intriguing. She knew she was just a lowly servant and yet he treated her with the utmost respect.
She imagined Ben asking her to dine with him one evening. Perhaps he would invite her on a picnic or even on a long ride to the nearest town to take in a picture show. Kaydel told her there was a new one in Ferressee’s Point. Bazine had gone there when it first opened.
Admittedly, he had enticed her, and they did share some intimacies. She thought that perhaps Ben was the kind of man she could yield up her secrets to. Her mind carried her away, off to that place where she always wanted to be - truly loved and adored.
Of course, he was also abrupt, and his heated pursuit was most unexpected. But his touch… his voice, the way he looked at her, the warmth of his skin, his body emanated such a heat, it was all so intense she nearly swooned. Rey wanted to blame it on the Laudanum, because she had just taken the last of it. She was truly thrilled by him and not afraid to admit it. Rey only wished she was more seasoned, more skilled at mastering womanly wiles.
For some strange reason, she thought back to all the brothels in London - where women sat openly in the windows, pleasuring themselves in hopes of attracting punters and johns. While watching them, she always felt naughty, her cheeks reddened, her thighs clenched and were wet with the mere thought. She quickly turned, then glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She took in her reflection from head to toe. Undoubtedly, she was plain, very young and inexperienced for sure. But she yearned to know what secrets Ben could unlock for her, what new feelings and experiences possibly lay ahead.
Rey took a deep breath and discovered herself excited and eagerly awaiting their next encounter.
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In the light of day, after the discovery of Grummgar’s body, some brothel patrons sent a car in town with the news. Syril went to rouse the Sheriff while Quinlan Vos took it upon himself to respond.
Upon his arrival, he saw that two whor*s had covered the man with a large sheet and sat beside his body in the dirt sitting some sort of vigil.
“Aight, aight… Everyone, clear out. Clear out now. I got this.” Carefully, Vos slowly pulled back the sheet with two, long pinched fingers. It was a terrible sight. The color had all but drained from his face. Lips twisted with eyes frozen in horror. He guessed none of the whor*s thought to shut them. The wide pools of bloody mud beneath his massive mitts for hands were starting to grow thick and tacky. Grummgar was pitiful to see.
Even with eight years as an officer of the law, Quinlan Vos had never seen this kind of reckless disregard for human life. First, with the Erso farmhouse, and now this. Grummgar’s death, much like Galen and his family, just felt wrong, felt out of place, it felt like pure evil. It sickened him and he began to have doubts for the first time that Sheriff Canady could handle this.
Vos pressed a tight fingered, slanted hand to his brow, looking at the prairie that stretched out a few miles then broke into desert as far as the eye could see. His people were here long before the town of Jakku was even an idea. He had seen plenty of madness in these parts. Not much made his skin crawl, but this sure did.
He and Grummgar were never close, were not even friends, and barely acquaintances. He found him frankly to be an asshole, a blockhead and a huge lummox. But he had a feeling down in the very marrow of his bones that kept telling him the man did not do this to himself.
Vos leaned back down over the body, and for an instant, felt sorry for the farmhand. He scoffed, knowing it’d take at least three men to haul him. Then he pulled out his tobacco pouch to roll a cigarette, dreading having to tell the Sheriff what he really suspected and knowing that Doc was going to have a bona fide conniption.
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Syril squinted up into the sun, then pulled and tugged at the brim of his hat. “What’s with the long hair, anyway? Some dough boy, he is…”
Gannis knew Syril was talking about Solo, though he stared blankly at the ground. “I dunno, but I knew a guy once who came back from the war and he did the same thing. Let his hair damn near grow down his back. He stopped washing and caring for himself. People said he lost his mind.” He chortled nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Syril added. “They call it shell shocked.”
“My grandaddy told us they used to say a man got soldier’s heart, I think. Back during the Civil War.”
“Well… Don’t like him!” Syril only sneered.
“Me neither.”
Syril’s eyes narrowed when he cast them toward the second story window of Gwen’s boarding house. “That man - he just seems to malinger, and I definitely don’t like the way he looms.”
“And no one even knows him ‘round here. Not a soul.”
“Besides, it was pretty handy finding Grumm like that, though.” Syril turned to face him and awaited a response.
Ducain let his eyes lazily sweep all of Main Street, then scratched at the back of his head. “Makes no sense to me - I mean he was hard to like and even harder to stomach, but taking his own razor to himself, slitting his wrists … and killin’ the Ersos…? Makes no sense at all.”
An awkward silence prevailed until Gannis added, “And Grumm couldn’t read or write that good…”
In very hushed tones, Syril agreed. “I know, I know. And Moden is so damn blind. The man is too old and getting feeble. If it was up to me Solo’d still be in that cell, and I’d have two more in there right next to him. Canady’s way of doing things couldn’t hold a match up to the ways of policing in big cities. He still fancies a slow steady hand. And he still fancies Vos over me and my new ideas on investigating.” Syril’s irritation grew as he spoke. Each word was filled with tension.
“Hmmm…”
Syril threw a forced hand atop Ducain’s back. “He’s got us both watching Solo real close now… Me and Vos. But you need to be very careful, Gannis.” He then tipped his hat to a passing woman with her young ones. “After what happened to Grumm, I’d stay clear of him if I were you.”
Ducain spat on the curb while Syril patted him hard on the back and the two men entered the eating establishment together. The sounds of chatter in Maz’s place filtered out onto the street outside the diner up until the screen door slammed shut behind them.
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“Sure, I can work on it.” Ben rolled up his shirt sleeves past his thick forearms while sizing up the old Ford truck.
‘Yeah, she’s a real clunker, that one, but I have faith in ya. Dunno why, but I think you can handle it.” Brushing his palms into an oily rag he turned to walk away. “Just lock up for me when you’re done.”
“Sure thing.” Ben nodded as he watched Poe’s back while the man climbed the stairs to his meager dwelling above his place of business.
He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, folded up the hood, then leaned over the engine. His eyes darted about the casing. Ben studied the piston stroke and the cast iron cylinder block, which was completely coated in a dried, crusty rust.
When he asked himself the question that had been plaguing him the most, Why don’t I just run? Two opposing notions that were at war, swam in his mind. They would nail this to him and hunt him down. And then, there was the girl. Ben needed to plan his exit. Plan it quickly. This maddening situation rife with all his unnecessary risks had already blown-up way out of proportion and put him in grave danger. Not to mention it had totally ruined his schedule.
He had just witnessed the brouhaha outside the Sheriff’s Office. Ben had become accustomed to the stares and whispers while he sat and drank coffee in the boarding house lobby. Even the averted eyes and the town people shunning him openly was commonplace. They always scurry like rats. But the recent arrival of the Pinkerton was cause for worry. So was moving Rey from the boarding house.
Ben swung the ball peen hammer hard to dislodge the immovable rusted nut.
Damn Fools. They’re onto me and like needles in my brain, they just won’t let go. Benjamin O. Solo, the man of means and letters, cultured, learned and mannerly had placed himself in this fix. Usually, he was controlled and very restrained. Normally he was above reproach, very precise, measured and all ‘spit and polish’. And now, he felt discombobulated, and it was not like him.
It was starting to crumble now but he couldn’t, he wouldn’t be thwarted. I still have much more work to be done. And I will finish. Soon enough they will all see, and they will know.
He applied the wrench and was finally able to remove the stubborn nut and bolt.
It’s not the girl - it’s me .
She didn’t remember what happened that day. Did she? She couldn’t. He wasn’t certain. Rey was so trusting and hopeful. She truly seemed genuine. He didn’t understand it. Everything about him was bad news and most people saw that. No matter how naive, they saw that about him. Ben wondered, so… Why not her?
He was done playing this game, and he had to get close - even closer to her in order to shake things up, to find out if it was all an act.
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“Go on home, now.” Patting down his meaty hands, pushing measured spurts of air, he tried to assuage people’s fears. “Appreciate everyone’s interest in these legal matters, but we’ve got it all under control. Go home.”
Canady watched as the small mob began to slowly dissipate. There’d only been a few agitators. Syril and his mother kept badgering Canady. They still pushed for more interrogations and hard lining the agenda for moving Rey away from their primary suspect. The Sheriff figured Syril was angling for a promotion and more recognition at his mother’s goadings. Gwen and Maz, however, agreed and that made him seriously consider it. They held a lot of sway with the community in Jakku.
Maz, Finn & Jannah recommended she come stay with the young couple while her future was still uncertain. Even though there was a longshot that the maid would ever remember according to Doc, it was worth thinking about. Their offer was sincere, and they seemed good natured enough folk. That was the only reason Cannady conceded and finally gave the plan to move his only witness his blessing.
But with the Pinkerton, Cad Bane, on the scene, everyone was up in arms all over again. The man strode about the town brandishing his shiny, private badge, making his presence known, questioning the good people of the town. He made a bee line over to Doc’s, once word came out about Grummgar.
Folks were constantly walking by the Sheriff’s Office, some just being nosey, most keeping tabs, not wanting to rely on the daily paper. He finally collapsed back in his chair with a deflated sigh.
Didn’t help that someone had taken to leaving notes under his office door. All of them were accusing Poe Dameron and Bale Organa. There were quite a few, however, of the opinion that the maid should be moved to somewhere else safer than Gwen’s. The ever growing subtle not-so-subtle finger pointing to Solo.
Canady couldn’t argue with that one at all.
It had even been printed in the Jakku Journal that Judge Dooku had already arranged to hold a preliminary hearing and had summoned Armitage Hux to serve as prosecutor. Canady brushed his copy of the newspaper on his desk to the floor in disgust.
Combined with Grummgar’s suicide and confession and Galen’s friend from back East soon to show up, the tension was cut-it-with-a-knife thick. Jakku was simmering, but about to come to a boil soon.
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She brushed her hair and gathered up her hairpins, placing them one at a time, securing her bun. It was quite lovely. She was pleased the scar was barely visible. This time, she donned her old white cotton dress. It was flattering and still fit well. It was not frilly like her new one, but simple yet stunning. The strangest thing was, without an apron, she still felt nearly naked and not completely herself.
When Rey glanced at the mirror, she saw someone else looking back.
Quickly, she folded her few belongings, as meager and humble as they were, and placed them in a pile on the floor just outside her door. Rey ran downstairs to meet Jannah and Finn.
They stood waiting for her at the front desk joined by Doc Kalonia, Gwen and Maz. “Hello, everyone.” She greeted them warmly. “I truly appreciate all that you’ve done for me.” Rey politely handed Gwen her room key with a silent thank you.
“You’re welcome. We were glad to have you.” Gwen smiled back.
“Maz just brought us some of her famous cornbread.” Finn waved a hand holding some wrapped in a checked napkin. “Are you all ready?” Jannah chimed in.
“Yes.” Rey grinned.
Jannah joined her and the two quickly scaled the stairs, hightailing it to her room. With both hands at the ready, Jannah opened up her big canvas bag while Rey bent down to retrieve all her things and neatly tucked them inside.
A very small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor. Instantly, she went flush, snatching it up before Jannah was the wiser. Studying it briefly, before crumpling it, she nonchalantly deposited it in the pocket of her dress.
The note simply read, “Meet me at Poe’s at quarter past ten - Ben.”
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A tied-up hound across the way whined then howled against the wind.
Her soft rap on the door seemed to resonate throughout the garage. “Rey…?” Ben stood, plucking his cigarette out onto the back lot.
Darkness enveloped her as she shyly entered the garage and whispered, “Yes.” The light from the nearby streetlamp fought to limn the garage bays in a pale, ivory glow and lost the struggle. She squinted to see but eventually followed the sound of his voice.
“Come over here.” His voice rumbled from the corner by the stairs.
Her steps were timid and unsettled while maneuvering on the cement covered in motor oil. She crept closer and focused on what little she saw of his partly shrouded face. Muted grays and moon whites silhouetted his distinct profile.
“Closer…” His whisper rumbled low and deep. “Closer.”
As she drew nearer, Rey caught a whiff of him. Up until now he had always carried the scent of a fresh bar of soap. Now, this time, he smelled of axle grease, petrol, sweat and musk. And Rey liked it a lot.
She hadn’t noticed before this very moment just how much his eyes shone in the light like copper pennies.
“Hello…” Rey pushed up onto her toes and tried to kiss him much like how they had before, only he gripped her shoulders hard, and stiffened when her lips brushed his. It was as if he had turned to stone. Rey gazed up at him, trying to imagine what slight she had done to him, what offense she had caused.
He tightened his hold on her shoulders, roughly capped them with his palms, and forced her to turn away from him. “Don’t.”
Immediately, she felt embarrassed, dejected. “Oh…?” It was very off putting, and she was so shocked by his behavior, his actions. Rey started to tremble as her shawl fell to the floor.
Ben squeezed even tighter to fix her in place. “Don’t - don’t look at me.” His large body pressed against hers and she could feel the heat from his crotch burning along the small of her back. Her mind flashed back to that moment in her room when he had up against the wall.
When he shoved her into the railing, she realized something had come over him… Something frightening.
Shaken, Rey felt the same sense of unleashed fury brewing inside him like before. It simmered under his skin like synapses firing and crackling like electricity as he brushed at the bun at her nape. He moved it aside, burying his long nose there and pulling her hair loose.
Then it hit her, the smell of tobacco and whiskey. He’d been smoking and drinking. Her heart pounded inside her chest, and she attempted a strangled ‘eek’ although her voice did little to cooperate. She wanted to yell out and bring some good Samaritan running. But she couldn’t.
Fat fingers roamed down her sides and dug hard into her waist, with hands that spanned the whole width of her. His thumbs pushed up and down her spine, while he threatened and muscled her over the railing. The bulge in his trousers rubbed hard and warm against her cotton dress.
Ben was nibbling at her earlobe while nosing her neck. His fingers dug even deeper into her rib cage. Rey tried to object once more. This time she hardly squeaked, “Wait a minute.” He was crushing her with the weight of his massive body.
“No!” His words and voice were coarse and commanding.
Her eyes darted frantically around the pitch-black garage. “Ben… wait!” She began to panic.
“No!” Moving his hands faster, he gripped her bum, massaging her smooth, round cheeks first, then rucking up the skirt of her dress.
Breaking out into a cold sweat, Rey begged and pleaded. “Please, Ben, please.” She squirmed and desperately tried to wriggle free from him.
“Sssshh…sshh.” He moaned while snaking his fingers between her legs and began rubbing the seam along the gusset of her panties.
“Slow down… I - I’m, I’m not ready. Please…Ben.” Her words trailed off when Rey started feeling faint. “Please!”
“Sshh-sssshh…” Grinding his erection harder, Ben murmured along the line of her jaw. “You will be. You can do this. Do it for… me.”
She strained to crane her neck trying to see him, fighting the coiling and churning feelings in her tummy when he deftly slid his hand inside her panties, prying her lips apart. Her legs turned to jelly the second he plunged one, then two fingers inside. She yelped and struggled to free her trapped wrists which were wedged tight, stuck between the railing and her own body.
Whimpering, Rey slumped into his chest and her hips swayed. Already diminished from grappling with him, it had weakened her. Ben was entirely too strong. His assault was relentless.
“That’s it, Little Rey. That’s it.” Once he had pried her open, he sawed in and out of her while biting and sucking at the crook of his neck. The sharp sting of her c*nt stretched around his thick fingers was unbearable. Rey’s eyes burned with tears welling as she began to sob loudly.
“Oh - Stop it, now. You were doing so well. It’ll get better soon.” With that, he curled his two fingers and began pumping them slowly knuckles deep. Ben flexed then curled them, flexed then curled them - over and over. Her body responded, steadily clenching around them and the sensation took her by storm. Her hips lightly swiveled in tandem to his grinding pelvis. “There… see? Look at you. Liking it now, aren’t you?” His warm breath puffed into her hairline in broken pants.
Rey heard the cool detachment in his tone. All the charm had completely burned away. It had vanished and left the brute who was using her like a - like a dishrag.
“Stop pleeeeease…” As he forced her further over the railing, it rolled into her gut and lifted her off her toes. Her shoes dangled then dropped to the cement floor. “Uh-uh-aaah… nngh-hmm.” Rey could tell she was getting wet as his fingers started to glide in more easily… Her arousal coating them. She could tell he was enjoying her weakness, helplessness, and her total vulnerability.
“Much, much better.” He groaned as one thick bicep curled around her collarbone when he finally pulled free from her. The pads of his soaked fingers eased out and swept deliberately over her mound and drenched pubes. “Here we go, Miss Rey. You’ll love it.”
She gulped then whined, “Please, Ben, don’t.” It was barely audible, but she knew he heard her. Her mouth was so dry it hurt.
The undeniably sound of him rustling his trousers open and shoving them down his thighs was frightening. The hand he held fast to the base of her neck rose suddenly, inched up, then gripped her throat. Rey squirmed and squeaked, still resisting the unavoidable, the inevitable. There was no denying it was all futile
His entire body stilled but was still seething. She felt it. The throbbing hard on that had been pressed through fabric, was now rubbing warm and sliding against the seam of her ass. Her whole body went rigid.
Rey knew she had made a grave mistake. She should’ve resisted him. She should never have come to him. She should not have come to this garage.
Rey felt his body lowering on bent knees just before he rammed hard into her, nearly splitting her half. Not having known any man, she imagined he had to be bigger than most. She slammed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. The pain from his penetrating her was so forceful, she nearly gagged.
It burned badly. Ben pulled back slowly and slammed back in again even harder. His grip about her neck tightened with every thrust, and she immediately sensed a pressure building behind her closed eyes.
Rey gasped and gulped down as much air as she could while she tried to steady herself. He was pummeling into her brutish and violent, repeating the word ‘yes’ over and over. The loud slaps of his thighs against hers were lewd and merciless.
The hot meaty hand wrapped around her neck strengthened, constricted even more and she grew dizzy, and her eyes clouded over. Rey thought she was about to die.
His entire body was then wracked with spasms when he cried out, “Goddammit!” Strong bursts of his warmth flooded and coated her insides. Once he pulled out abruptly, Rey crumpled to the floor. She grasped her collar, gripping it snug, smashing it to her breast. Her chin hung heavy as it dropped to her chest, gasping wildly for breath.
Ben merely backed away from her one slow step at a time. He tucked himself into his pants and leaned along the old truck’s fender. she could feel him staring at her when he shook out one pants leg and pulled out a cigarette to light it.
Rey choked back her sobs of shame when she eventually willed herself to stand. Ben only stood there in the darkness and made no effort to speak to her or offer any assistance. The red orange glow from every inhale and the slow whoosh of smoke with every exhale was all that marked his existence in the garage.
The last thing she did was retrieve her shawl and pushed open the door to leave. She never looked back.
He didn’t just deflower her. Ben had defiled her. Thankful that no one else seemed to be out that late, she hurried along the empty street under the cover of night. Rey walked all the way back to Finn and Jannah’s. It took her almost an hour. With every step, her shame and guilt grew to be insufferable. Her legs were weak and wobbly. Her dress was ripped and torn at the collar and side seam. A slow trickle of blood and his spend still seeped down her thighs.
But most of all, Rey’s heart ached.
All Rey hoped for at that point was that both Finn and Jannah were still sound asleep when she returned. She left the window partially open and planned to crawl back inside unnoticed.
But now she would have to suffer further humiliation by having to nurse her wounds in quiet, and pray he left no bruises.
And pray to never see Ben Solo again.
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