Quick AN: This is a drawing of Rey I did. What do you guys think?
Chapter 7
Kylo's POV:
Perhaps he was foolish to agree so quickly, without a second thought. Perhaps he was foolish to ignore his orders. And perhaps his foolishness would be his downfall, but somehow he had agreed to go with Rey anyway. He was foolish, but he was not idiotic. He knew that Snoke would be watching him.
And now that he had hesitated to agree to Snoke's orders, Snoke would be watching both of them. If truly he wanted to leave all this behind--what had become his home, his protection, his comfort--then he would have to plan intelligently. He could not let Snoke catch him. He could not even let his own armies catch him.
It was early morning, probably around six or so, when he slipped out from his rooms. It was close to one when he had seen Rey last, in the data library. He had told her to wait. To be careful. That he would come for her, and that he had a plan.
Kylo hadn't had a plan then, not even close.
So for the next five hours, pacing back and forth in his rooms like a wild animal, Kylo had thought of a way he could get them both out. It was a risky plan. One that called for disabling cameras. Setting off alarms. Diversions. But Kylo was confident that he could do it. He was confident that Rey could do it.
Quietly, hiding in the shadows, he reached out in front of him to a passing stormtrooper. Using the Force, he pushed into the stormtrooper's mind. The stormtrooper was weak-minded, and was easily swayed into following Kylo's order. Five minutes later, the stormtrooper was left sleeping in the hallway, and Kylo was already marching away, dressed in the white armor and helmet.
The hall lights flickered, just for a second as he passed. A simple thing. But a flash that told Kylo the commander he had compelled to do his bidding was beginning to carry out the plan. The commander was ready. The lights flickered. On. Off. And then the signal was over.
Kylo walked faster now, adrenaline fueling his swift movement. He turned a corner and saw the door behind which Rey waited. With a wave of his hand, the storm troopers outside of the door left, disappearing down the hall and going back to their quarters.
Kylo knocked. And he felt incredibly awkward, rapping quietly on the door. There was no answer, and so he knocked again.
The door opened and there stood a very angry looking Rey, glaring up at him and half hidden behind the door. "What do you want? It's four in the morning."
Kylo almost took a step back. Her words were so sharp, as though she had changed her mind completely. And then he remembered he was wearing the stormtrooper's armor. "I was told to come get you," he told her.
Rey rolled her eyes. "By whom?" Again she glared and cast her fiery eyes up toward him.
"Kylo Ren," he replied.
Rey stopped, just for a second, to look him up and down. "You tell your master that he can come get me himself. You're not taking me anywhere."
Rey was closing the door, and Kylo had to think fast. There were cameras watching, turned back on now that the original guards were gone, and he couldn't take off his helmet. They were listening in. Rey, he said, pushing the words into her mind. Let's go, Rey.
The door stopped closing. Rey opened it an inch, just enough for her to look up and at the stormtrooper's mask. A stormtrooper, Ben? She asked. Are you getting me armor too?
There had been silence for too long. So Kylo used his voice to reply. "Get your things. I don't think he'll enjoy waiting." Rey opened the door farther, allowing him to see the rooms she had been kept in.
Light saber? He asked her as she did so. He did not enter, although the door was open wide enough. Guards did not enter rooms simply because the door was open. That was not their orders.
Who do you take me for? I've got it. Rey hadn't brought much with her, only the clothes on her back and a light saber, really. Shrugging on her jacket, and then showing the pocket where she had put her light saber to him, she walked forward. Are you going to tell me the plan?
He felt a flash of guilt then. I'm sorry. Rey's eyes flashed dangerously. Sorry for what? She asked him, glaring and sending waves of remorse through his body. Kylo did not reply.
And then. He spun her around so that her back was facing him, and pushed her into the wall. Rey cursed. "What the hell is going on?" Once more, Kylo did not reply. He stepped closer, and with two small clicks, Rey's hands were handcuffed behind her.
Shocked, her arms fell limp at her sides, the chain between her wrists rattling. And she turned around, betrayal clouding her eyes. What's going on? She pressed.
"Execution time," he told her. "Seems he wanted you dead." And then. I'm getting us out.
By killing me? Rey asked, her eyes still full of distrust. Kylo grabbed her arm, pulling her along as they began to walk. They turned, and again, walking down the cold hallways. You better be joking.
Kylo slowed down to look at her. They're going to think we're dead. Not that I am dead, but that . . . He trailed off and looked at the combination of numbers on his chest plate. They'll think SM-3421 is dead.
You're not making any sense. This isn't going to work. You'll be with me! How are you supposed to carry out the execution, Ben?
Kylo chuckled, barely, and the sound was strange to him. He could not remember the last time he had laughed, nor could he remember the last time he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. It's a good think that Kylo Ren wears a mask, isn't it?
-----
The room they stepped into was large and dark. Snoke stood before them, tall and lean and wizened, and smiling thinly. Surrounding them on either sides were storm troopers, guards who were armed. Kylo's heart sped up. He was doing the unthinkable. He was betraying his people.
This will work. I know it will, Rey assured him. As they had walked, he had told her the plan, rather quickly. Rey had not been able to keep the thin smile off her face then. She was pleased, in the end, that he had not told her of the plan originally. She thought they ended up giving whoever was watching the cameras a good show.
Yes, he managed to reply as he marched her closer to Snoke, down the thin aisle and toward the awaiting Tie Fighter. Next to Snoke were both General Hux and the man who was pretending to be Kylo Ren, an average storm trooper who had been compelled to do so. He hated to think that their plan rested on the shoulders of someone so . . . not himself.
They reached the trio. Kylo pushed Rey down on her knees before them, and saluted General Hux. "Sir, I've brought the girl."
"Thank you, trooper. Your fellow soldiers thank you for your sacrifice," Hux told him, eyes widening with blood lust.
Rey, meanwhile, was putting on a good show. A good show, she had said earlier. That was all they really wanted. And really, the purpose of her execution was to light a fire in the storm troopers. To demonstrate that even the strongest of beings could be brought down on their knees, begging for mercy.
Rey begged, like her mother before her, turning her face up to the ancient Snoke. "You are a monster," she said, her voice trembling. "You take light and twist it. You destroy what is right." A pause.
Kylo could feel her tears as they formed in her eyes, as burning and cold as if they were his own. And in that moment, with her back toward him and tears welling in her eyes, Kylo wanted nothing more than to take her hand in his own and hold it tight.
"You can fix this now," Rey told Snoke boldly. "Show mercy and you will be saved."
Snoke, full of fury, marched forward, and with a wizened hand, reached down and pulled Rey to her feet. "You will die, girl. I will not show mercy." He let Rey go then, stepping back and waving a hand to the stormtrooper playing Kylo Ren. "She is weaker than you thought."
"Take her away, trooper," Hux commanded. "We don't need to listen to her anymore."
Rey struggled against him as he reached down and pulled her to her feet. "Let me go. I can walk on my own," she spat.
Kylo released her, and followed closely behind as she entered the Tie Fighter. You can fly? He asked, double checking.
Kylo could feel her smile. I can.
---
"Take that trooper's helmet off, Ben. It's going to get hot in here," Rey told him. He followed her advice quickly. "It's better to hear your real voice anyway."
Ben looked back behind him, craning his neck so he could see the back of her head. "You only like me with my helmet off?"
Rey laughed, just a bit as she fiddled with the dials. "Get the spare parts ready. And I don't like you either way." Kylo could sense her lie--it was far too easy to detect, even without the connection they shared through the Force.
"The spare parts are ready. We're good. Ready?" He asked, craning his head back once more. His nose was inches away from her hair.
"Ready," Rey responded. And then. "Only like me when my back is turned, Ben?" She awkwardly angled her own head back to meet his eyes. She had sensed him behind her.
"Launching in five," was his hasty response as he turned around.
Five. Four. Three. Two. One. And then they were shooting off into space, leaving the execution room behind. "I'm doing it now!" Rey shouted, and she released the spare parts. "Shoot!"
He aimed, watching the bundle of spare parts through the sight. And then, with a loud boom, he shot a missile at them. They exploded in a colorful mass of fire and ash that was sure to trick everyone watching. "Go, Rey! Fast!"
She was flying away, faster and faster, toward her home, towards Jakku, and he was with her. It was almost too much for Kylo to wrap his head around. He watched as Starkiller Base shrunk behind him, as the fiery explosion settled, and somehow, with all that fire, he had never felt more calm.
"Come in," a voice suddenly said. It was a crackly voice, coming through a sort of speaker. Kylo's heart rate sped up. Was this Starkiller Base calling? Was Hux wondering how his brave stormtrooper could have helped Rey get away?
And then. The voice became faintly recognizable, like a dream. "Come in, Rey?" The speaker, which Kylo realized had been brought on board by Rey, crackled once more. "Rey?"
"I'm here," she responded. The ship shook slightly as she entered the atmosphere, sending them towards the ground.
Kylo, meanwhile, was listening to the voice, emotions flooding through his veins. That. Was. His. Mother. His mother was calling and asking for Rey, asking for her to come in. And he hadn't seen her in far too long. But he had left for a reason. And he certainly did not feel like going back.
For a time, just a few seconds really, he was happy to hear his mother's voice. The voice he hadn't really forgotten, even after all this time.
But then, rage was flooding him, terrible dark rage. Rey betrayed him.
The ship was coming closer and closer to the ground. Kylo's mother was talking to Rey, and Rey, whom he could feel was terrible regretful--terribly sorry--was responding.
"Have you got him, Rey?" Leia asked as the ship was landing, skidding slightly into the sand. They had landed on Jakku.
"I've got him," Rey responded. And she was sorry. So sorry. He could feel her sorrow. She knew that somehow, even though they were enemies, she had betrayed him. She had betrayed his trust.
It. Was. All. A mission. All of it. She never cared about him. She never truly wanted him to go back to his heart. She only wanted to succeed in her mission. To please Leia.
Kylo unbuckled, not wanting to hear the rest of he conversation. He had made a terrible, terrible mistake. He had trusted a woman, because somehow he wanted to feel cared for. And he had thought Rey cared about him, at least a little bit.
Kylo stepped out into the desert. Into the sandy dunes of Rey's home. He could hear Rey saying a hasty goodbye to Leia inside. Not that he cared what she did. Not anymore.
"Ben?" Came her quiet voice. She walked closer. Put a hand on his arm.
He shook her off. "Don't touch me." And he would not turn around. He could not look at her. Because. He. Cared. He cared about her more than she cared about him. He wanted her safe. She wanted him for a mission.
"Let me explain," Rey pleaded. "Please turn around." She was begging. She was begging for forgiveness.
His feet moved on their own. He faced her with his jaw clenched. He was waiting. Waiting for her to the explain. Waiting for her to laugh and say that it was all a joke. Of course there was no mission.
"I told you my mission, Rey. A mission I couldn't do. And I trusted you."
Rey looked at her feet. "I know. And I trusted you."
Kylo glared at her, so harshly. "You did not trust me with your mission, even when I trusted you with my own."
Rey swallowed visibly then. And still she was begging for forgiveness. She wanted this whole thing to be forgotten. "I just thought--"
"Who gives a damn what you think!" He screamed at her, raising his voice and letting it carry around them to the sand.
"You do!" She yelled back. "You wouldn't have come with me otherwise."
Kylo stepped back. "Then surely I am weak. To let myself fall prey to you. I am weak and foolish. I shouldn't have come. Not with someone who doesn't care."
There was a pause. "I do care," Rey said softly.
"No. Not the way I do. You care just enough to follow orders. I care enough to disobey them." He paused and said it again. "I shouldn't have come."
This time, when he turns around she doesn't follow. This time, when he turns around, he is truly alone.
AN: Hello!!!!! Okay please don't kill me with your Chewbacca or your Boba Fett. Lol.
I promise their fight is important to the plot. Hopefully, you all still liked the chapter.
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