Chapter Text
It was a fairly innocuous stack of paper for all the trouble it was causing, the binder was red and the title page was neatly typed with the words.
Star Wars
Episode IX
The rise of Lucas.
Writers
A. Hux and K. Ren.
“I beg your pardon.” Amilyn Holdo murmured, her tone glacial.
“We are going to run with it.” The CEO of the company Rob Snoke repeated. “Look, Amilyn,” he drawled with thinly veiled condescension, “the fact remains that we need to move forward with the expansion of Star Wars projects, you’ve had enough time. We need to get this last movie out.”
“Rob, this script is no more up to scratch than the last one. There are issues with it not complying with the established storyline, the changes in the characterisation are going to be viewed as racist and sexist, and the goddamn ending!” As she spoke, she jabbed at the offending binder with a lilac painted fingernail like she was stabbing it. “The backlash from this will be biblical if we don’t get this right.”
“We’ve already had a backlash. The last film completely divided the fandom.” One of the gormless all male chorus that followed Snoke around like he was the second coming, chipped in but she shot him a look that could’ve cut him off at the knees.
“The Star Wars fandom has always debated, this is the first time we’ve been exposed to such an immediate reaction, now if someone doesn’t like it, they can get straight on Twitter and rant directly to the company..”
Snoke raised his hand to cut off the debate. “The fact remains Amilyn, the movie is slated for Christmas 2019 and we are going to green light it.”
“Rob, this script was produced without input from the Skywalker story group. I’m telling you if we go ahead with this.. some of us will be looking for new jobs by January.” At this declaration, Snoke shifted in his seat and wetted his thin lips nervously.
“Well get a script doctor if it is needed so badly. We have to start pre-production if we have any chance of meeting our deadline.” He bit out as he squared his scrawny shoulders, snatched up the script and dropped it infront of her. The muscle in Amilyn’s jaw clenched in a movement which spoke volumes to anyone who knew her well but since he was lacking common sense he continued.
“This is your area of expertise. Do you have any suggestions?” Rob said evenly, Holdo didn’t hesitate.
“Rey Johnson,” she said in a firm voice, “She was Leia Organa’s protege and she interned for Luke Skywalker. She’s a walking encyclopaedia of Star Wars lore, she worked on the scripts for the last two films. Frankly, if you want to save this movie, Rey Johnson is your only hope.”
Rob pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side “Is there any chance Skywalker would give some input?”
Amilyn barely managed to stifle an unladylike snort. “He’s made it very clear that he doesn’t wish to participate in the project.” She said, keeping her poker face.
“That settles it then, get this Johnson girl. She’s got two weeks.”
🏜
“Two weeks! Is he insane?” As she pulled her workout shirt on over her head. It was just a plain beige t-shirt from Walmart, She could never justify the price of Lululemon for something she just sweated in for a few hours a week.
“It’s a possibility..” Amilyn admitted, thanking her lucky stars she hadn’t put Rey on speaker “Rey honey please? you’re the only person who can rescue this script… now that she’s..” she said as she paced by now there should’ve been a furrow in her office’s plush cream carpet.
“Don’t say it.” Rey groaned on her end of the phone call.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Amilyn asked in a far too innocent voice.
“Come off it Amilyn, I know you’re going to tell me Leia would’ve wanted me to do it..” Rey practically snarled as she tied the shoelaces of her running shoes.
“She would’ve.. but you know it’s entirely your choice.”
Rey huffed and Amilyn knew she had her.
“Rey, I know you are the only person on the planet who can fix this! Why don’t you drive out to the ranch, see if Kaydel wants to go.”
“You already called Kaydel, didn't you?” Rey accused stalking towards her gym bag with a determined air, she was going to need her hand wraps, she was going to kick the shit out of the poor guy wearing the red man suit today.
“I’m efficient.” Amilyn informed Rey as she opened her laptop.
“You’re manipulative.” Rey seethed.
“I’m manipulative but I do it with love. Rey, I know what Star Wars means to you.. I know what it means to all of us. Trust me when I say, you need to be on this project.”
“What are you saying? Is it garbage?” Rey said as pausing in the action of taking her water bottle out of her fridge, her elfin features tense.
“That’s a strong word, you take a look and tell me.”
The hair on the back of Rey’s neck prickled with a sudden stab of precognition and she was walking to the front of her house before she’d even heard the sound of a heavy fist pounding on her door.
“What did you do?” She hissed peering out the window to see an armoured van and two beefy armed security guards standing on the portico of her little rented condo.
“I had the script sent over to you.” Amilyn said sweetly, closing the tracking app on her computer now that the little red dot was in front of Rey's house.
Grudgingly, Rey signed for the package and returned to her living room.
“You owe me.” She growled into the phone.
“I do..” Amilyn soothed “I really, really do, you’re a goddess and when you get back I’m treating you to dinner at Coda.”
“Coda?! You’re shelling out for five Michelin Star food? How bad is this thing?” Rey exclaimed but Amilyn seemed to go deaf all the sudden.
“I’ll see you when you get back! Give my love to Kaydel, we’ll all get together then! Bye sweetie, love you!”
Amilyn Holdo then turned to the barrel chested bearded man wedged awkwardly in one of the delicate lavender wingback armchairs that flanked her desk .
He had his legs crossed, his ankle propped on one knee and a copy of the script balanced on the other, contemplatively turning a black cowboy hat in his hands.
With her phone call finished, she settled into the opposite chair and the two just looked at each other for a long moment.
Snap Wexley swallowed thickly and tilted back his head to examine the ceiling “I can’t bear to think about how Luke is going to take this.” He said in a voice on the verge of cracking.
“I know Snap.. I know” Amilyn said, giving his hand a comforting squeeze. “So what are we going to do about it?” She asked with a faint smile curving her lips. Blinking rapidly, Snap collected himself and cleared his throat.
“I have been playing with this idea,” he held up the script “This,” he said with an uncharacteristic expression of distaste. “It's the American monomyth right? Well, I've been thinking about a story about a Mandalorian bounty hunter but it kinda subverts that whole macho lone gunslinger for hire troupe.. have you heard of the Japanese manga comic Lone Wolf and cub?”
The corners of Amilyn’s mouth tilted further up.
“Tell me more..”
🏜
A day later, Rey was steering her ancient Ford Falcon off the interstate and onto the driveway of Skywalker ranch.
It was still a ten minute drive on a dirt track from the road to the house, tucked away in a remote valley in the Mojave desert. The arc of the sky above her was almost frightening in its immensity, clearly she’d been living in LA for too long, she was actually startled by how blue the sky was.
Rey tugged the sweat soaked fabric of her dress away from her skin, the airy fabric had seemed like the good choice for the long drive, until the air conditioning had died.
Now her thighs were sticking to the vinyl seat, her hair was soaking in sweat and she was absolutely desperate for the loo.
Gently tapping the brakes as she approached the gates, Rey was relieved to see them immediately swing open without her having to wait, Kaydel must’ve seen her coming up the driveway from the house. Skywalker Ranch was built into the rocky hillside like an eagle's nest and had a commanding view of the sprawling desert vista.
She parked on the crushed rock driveway in front of the garage, where the aged vehicle would be screened off from the house by a garden bed of enormous agave, succulents and cacti. Rey didn’t even bother to lock the Falcon, they were miles from a town and she paused to relish the silence for a moment.
She couldn’t hear anything but the wind and the cry of a Cactus Wren.
The house was a two story structure of adobe, glass and weathered metal built around a central courtyard with a flat roof jutted out to provide shade from the unrelatedly sun. Shading her eyes Rey peered at the barren mountain range and seemingly endless plains, although she loved the house and this landscape with its almost alien majesty but she found she just didn’t want to live in a desert anymore.
With this script hopefully she could make a name for herself, be able to grab some attention for her own original scripts and buy a home far away from Los Angeles, maybe on the east coast. She liked the idea of a house near the beach.
It didn’t need to be as impressive as Skywalker Ranch. She just wanted a home, maybe to meet someone nice and one day start a family.
The memory of sitting on Leia’s back porch floated to the surface of her mind, the scent of night blooming jasmine, sweet and heavy in the spring air. They’d sat, with mugs of tea working on the first of the then untitled sequel trilogy script. Somehow their conversation had strayed from the scene between Carrie and Harrisson discussing their son who had been lost to the dark side to Leia talking about her own marriage. Rey smiled faintly, remembering Leia’s wry comment “Rey, you can't find any true closeness in Hollywood, because everybody does the fake closeness so well.”
Leia had smirked at the frown that creased Rey’s brows. “I wasn’t talking about Han… lord knows we had our problems, Han always had itchy feet but he loved us. Maybe if I trusted that love a little more, things would’ve been better.”
With a sigh, Rey struggled to open the massive floor to ceiling timber door, weighed down by her heavy shoulder bag, a box full of supplies and dragging a suitcase.
“Kaydel? I made it!” She bellowed into the empty courtyard “Don’t come near me though, I smell like I’ve been digging drains! The bloody air conditioning in the Falcon died outside of San Bernardino..”
Rey knew from previous experience it was difficult to hear someone in the courtyard from the other rooms of the house, even if you shouted. So she left her luggage there and trudged into the kitchen.
“Kaydel? You here? God, it’s so bloody hot!” She declared as she reached around to tug at the closure of her bra.
“I feel like I’ve got puddles underneath each of my boobs, you know what? I’m not wearing a bra for next week!” Rey announced triumphantly as she successfully yanked the pretty lemon coloured bra out of her sleeve and used the elastic to slingshot it into the living room.
Rey had just grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and cracked the top open when she’d heard him. The absolute last voice she ever wanted to hear.
“Johnson, why is it you seem to have trouble wearing a bra when I’m around?”
Ben fucking Solo was standing in the kitchen with her underwear dangling from his index finger.
🏜
Rey Johnson’s eyes took on a greener hue when she was furious. Ben ought to know, since he seemed to be particularly adept at pissing her off.
He’d honestly meant that to be funny, maybe even a little flirty but coming out of his mouth? He just sounded like an asshole.
Ben occasionally wished he could do all of his communication by written word, something was incorrectly wired between his brain and mouth. The comment in his head would pass through his lips and turn into a train wreck. Just like the one he was currently watching unfold before him.
Rey, red faced and furious, snatched back the delicate scrap of yellow lace that had come flying out of the kitchen to hit him squarely in the face as he stood frozen at the sound of her voice. With an expression of contempt she stormed out of the kitchen towards the northern side of the house.
Why had he immediately brought up the memory of his mother’s funeral? Ben had spent a sizeable chunk of his earnings discussing his tendency towards self sabotage with his therapist Tai but still he could not seem to control what came out of his fucking mouth whenever he spoke to Rey.
The decision of whether to follow her and apologise or give her some space was taken out of his hands when Hux came charging out of one of the guest rooms, blotchy red patches maring his pasty complexion.
“Is that her?” The English accent Hux feigned because their mentor felt his native Irish lilt lacked sophistication, had slipped markedly.
Without waiting for an answer he marched after Rey.
“Armitage!” Ben shouted following the ginger, just in time to hear an outraged feminine voice scream, “Get the fuck out you pervert!”
Hux scuttled back out into the hall to Ben, he was even more flushed than before. “What did you do?” Ben spat.
“She was in the..” his voice dropped to a whisper almost mouthing the word "bathroom".
Ben bit the inside of his cheek to keep the ridiculous nervous giggle that threatened to bubble up.
“Do you realise we have to act professionally towards her? Even if you’re angry about her being brought in on the project, you just can’t go..”
“Ben? What the hell is going on?” His cousin called and he had a dizzying moment of Déjà vu. Kaydel was striding towards them, dressed in one of her hippy dippy kaftans very similar to ones Leia would wear around the house when he was very little. “I saw the Falcon, where is Rey?”
“She’s in the bathroom'' Ben told her easily as Hux shifted his weight from foot to foot with his wiry shoulders set in a tense line.
Kaydel’s doe eyes flicked from one man to the other. The expression of calculation highlighted just how much she resembled her aunt, his mother Leia. He’d been weighed and measured by those same brown eyes many times.
Rey’s arrival was heralded by her footfall on the tiles in a rapid angry beat. Her delicate features were set in almost hawklike fury as she approached.
“There you are!” Kaydel cried rushing forward to embrace her friend, Rey accepted the hug warmly but glared over her shoulder at Hux and Ben until her frown melted at Kaydel’s exuberance.
“I’ve missed you so much! You should’ve come with me and Jannah to Croatia, Hvar was unbelievable. How about you get cleaned up and I’ll tell you about this bar we went to on one of the islands, Zorri’s. You would’ve loved it, the food was incredible! Hey instead of a shower how about we all jump in the pool?”
Hux’s embarrassment abated long enough for him to protest. “We aren't here for a bloody holiday, we're here to prevent you from destroying Star Wars.” He snapped, the red in his cheeks flooding back. The faint line between Rey’s brows deepening.
“Who the hell are you?” She asked.
Hux’s mouth popped open with outrage. “I’m Armitage Hux!” He practically spat, Ben was vaguely surprised he didn’t include Oscar winning script writer.
“And I’m not about to let some nobody from nowhere chop up my work, I’ve won a Oscar for fuck sake!.”
Ben was beginning to wonder why Hux didn’t just wear that thing on a chain around his neck. Kaydel stepped in before Armitage had the chance to continue his tirade. In a steely voice quite different from her normal sweet tone she growled.
“While you are staying here you will not speak to Rey like that, if you don't like that, you can get out of my house.”
Hux whipped to Ben as though he expected Ben was going to defend him to his cousin.
“It’s her house, Armitage,” Ben said, shrugging.
“Why are you even here?” Rey asked Ben, clearly confused.
“We wrote the script” Hux drawled as though Rey was an idiot for not realising. The statement took a moment to land with its full force, her wide hazel eyes fluttering like the synapses in her brain were misfiring all at once. She gasped “You’re Kylo Ren? You wrote this.. this trash?”
Ben didn’t get a chance to absorb her distaste at his work because Armitage’s hands balled into tight fists as he took a threatening step towards her and Ben saw Rey’s bearing subtly shift sideways, her hands rising.
“Hey, hey!” He said, shoving a hand Hux’s chest holding him back. “What do you think you’re doing?” He hissed, pushing him backwards. “Everybody needs to calm the fuck down.”
Rey’s hands dropped slightly from the fighter’s stance she’d adopted at Hux’s posturing. “However you feel about it, I've got a job to do, so we can either work together or you can leave.”
Hux seemed to swell with indignation and was about to launch into another tirade when Ben decided a more direct approach was advisable. Hoisting Hux by the collar, Ben dragged him like a stroppy Pomerania out of the courtyard and back inside the kitchen.
“Take your hands off me you ape!,” Ben promptly released him and watched with amusement as Hux huffily tugged his polo and chinos, both Yves Saint Laurent and pressed to a knife’s edge crease and smoothing his overly slicked hair back into place. His pale face twisted into his most familiar expression which was a sneer. “Are you just going to let that b…”
“Maybe you didn’t get this but if you don’t calm down,” Ben cut in “she’s going to lock us out and do whatever the fuck she likes with the damn script.” Ben cut him off.
“What? I should play nice and catch more flies with honey?” Hux sneered.
“Exactly, they wouldn’t have got her in if they were happy with it. So let’s just hear her out.”
Hux squinted and wrinkled his nose, “You just want your dick wet..” he snapped.
Like he had a shot at that, Ben’s brain unhelpfully supplied. Rey Johnson has made it quite clear what she thought of him.
“Listen you little shit smear,” he snarled as he advanced on Hux. “I want to have a fucking career after this shit show is finished. So if Holdo wants us to listen to this woman, you’re going to sit down and fucking do it.”
He wanted a career but he wanted it on his own terms, not Snoke’s and definitely not Luke fucking Skywalker’s. He’d been writing, illustrating and directing anime and manga films under his nom de plume Kylo Ren for the last six years since leaving the animation department of Skywalkerfilm. Polite terms like ‘Leaving to explore other ventures’ and ‘creative differences’ made the headlines and the more accurate tale of Ben destroying Luke’s office and nearly killing his uncle were swept under the rug for the sake of keeping the image of a big happy family friendly business intact. Ben continued to the kitchen, shoulder checking the slighter man off balance as he did.
“By the way, Rey trains Krav Maga if you don't want to be kneed in the balls, don’t act like you're going to hit her again.” Ben advised as he looked in the fridge.
Heeding Tai’s warnings of the dangers of mixing his anti-anxiety meds with alcohol, he passed up the very tempting beer in favour of a bottle of water. He noticed a Saran wrapped container of chicken and green chili enchiladas from Andor’s with a twinge of painful nostalgia, he hadn’t eaten at that restaurant in years not since he was a kid.
He shut the refrigerator door with a little more force than was necessary, trying to tamp down the resentment that threatened to rise up.