Steady On.

Chapter 20.

Coming up to the bunkers again, she inhaled as she shut her eyes, calming her nerves as Rey remembered her objective. 'Get the crystal, get out.' She thought, and with that, she quietly attempted to unlock the door, only to see it was locked.

'Good, he's here.'

Pulling the passkey from the wraps at her ribs, she unlocked the door, wincing when it beeped. She waited a moment to make sure no one inside suspected anything, and with that, she let herself in.

.....

His head was throbbing, absolutely killing him.

Kylo knew he was exhausted, having barely slept at all lately due to keeping tabs on Hux and trying to make sure he had no time to plan any treachery.

But, on top of that, he could feel the scavenger's internal battle, reaching him even outside the bond. He thought the training he provided lately would help, but it seemed it was only causing more built up anger within her, and he seriously debated just handing over the crystal.

He could not lie.

He was dealing with a battle himself, unsure what to do. At what point would he stop teaching the girl? At what point is the dark side too much?

"Supreme leader?" Hux called.

At the moment, Kylo and Hux stood next to one another as they peered down to the level below them. Hux was proudly showing off the flamethrower troops new armor. He was growing extremely annoyed with his master's constant company,it was getting increasingly harder to hide his frustration with Kylo Ren.

"Looks fine." Kylo said, keeping it short and simple. He glanced down to the troops, all aligned as they were being evaluated. He stared blankly at them, his mind elsewhere.

Hux scoffed, tensing when he realized Kylo noticed.

"Something to say?" Kylo asked, glaring at him as he stepped closer, making Hux gulp.

"No, sir. If the appearance isn't to your standards, we can change it, though it protects the weaponry very well..." Hux said, his voice trembling.

Now, it was Kylo's turn to scoff. Hux's mind was never on the troopers, but on the weapon itself. It's what Snoke liked, and it left a sour taste in Kylo's mouth as he was reminded about the previous leader.

"Interesting thinking, just like Snoke wished for, of course with you being his pet-"

Kylo stopped when he felt a sharp quake around him, and he recognized this to be a shift in the force.

He knew then, her decision about which side she had chosen, was made.

A moment of hope passed, and Kylo was quickly disgusted with the idea of feeling it.

Clearing his throat, Kylo excused himself from Hux, who glared at his leader once his back was turned to him as Kylo quickly left.

A few moments later, as he made his way back to his chambers, he felt the familiar buzz soak the air around him as he was connected to Rey, this time though, he was not able to see her.

He whipped around, eyeing every inch of the shiny, dark hall he was sounded by. She was nowhere near him, yet he could feel her every emotion, every sting of panic that course through her and into him.

She was scared, absolutely frightened.

Something was happening, and he was connected to it.

Breaking out into a sweat, Kylo tried to peer into her mind, but was unable to see any-

Right then, a piercing burn shot through his abdomen, stinging the flesh beneath his clothes, burning skin and bone.

Gasping sharply, he fell against the wall, and looked down to see he was not harmed at all, but was still able to feel the excruciating pain pricking his body.

Kylo gulped, pushing off from the wall and running to his chambers, where the source of Rey was pulsating.

Trying to gain his breath, he entered his chambers as the door automatically closed behind him, his eyes frantically scanning his room.

Kylo froze as he saw her leg twitch from the floor behind his desk.

Running over to her, he turned the corner of the desk to see her clutching her stomach, blood pouring from her wound as her breath sputtered in, out.

"Rey." He said, his voice a mix of pain, anger, and worry.

She looked up at him, her chest beginning to give out as her breath slowed.

He knelt to her, his eyes wide on her wound.

Rey tried to talk, blood splattering out as her mouth opened, her teeth blood-stained.

"Where are you?" he asked, his stomach rolling at the sight of her, and the pain he still felt. Worry took over him, anxiety killing him as the rage built at whoever did this.

Her eyes widened, still trying to catch her breath.

He realized what he was asking, and before he could even think about it, he muttered a promise he wasn't sure he would be able to keep.

"I will not harm anyone from your base. You need help. Where are you, Rey?"

His hand fell to her arm as he kept her eyes on his.

She coughed once, shuddering as tears rolled from her eyes, teeth chattering.

"Ex...Excor-" She stopped, the pain silencing her as her spine bucked. As Kylo's other hand reached up to touch her cheek, the force bond ripped them apart, harsher and more suddenly than ever before.

He reached out to her through the force, and he received nothing but mute static. She was gone.

Standing, he tried to regain his breath, his abdomen sore and throbbing.

'What are my intentions?' he thought. 'Save her, and leave my enemies alone? Not reveal their location? Is this scavenger even worth it, to pause a war? And to leave Hux here, alone with my army?'

With that, he quickly left his chambers, heading to the bay to board his personal ship, and make his way to Excora, to save the scavenger.

To save Rey.

...

:O

Thank you for the reads and comments! It's so interesting to see such mixed reviews for Solo. Checking it out tomorrow, I'm not expecting an out of this world movie, but it's friggin Star Wars so I'm gonna love it anyway..

Anwayyyysss, hope you guys liked this chapter, it's gonna be a little intense for the next few. Reviews and likes/follows are loved and appreciated!

Also, I fixed the C-3PO typos, my apologies! At least I didn't put "SeeThreePeeOhh"...haha? I'm so immature.. Lol.