The hanger of the First Order Star Destroyer known as the Finalizer was bigger than any Nova remembered seeing. It paled in comparison to any hanger the Resistance had – on the ground or on a flagship.
It was large, cold, and uninviting. Everything looked far too pristine. TIE fighters lined the walls, stationed securely until their pilots would have need of them.
Squadrons of stormtroopers milled about with purpose, their striking white armour for once not looking out of place in their surroundings.
Nova dropped her gaze once more as she and Poe were taken down corridors finished in black rather than white or metallic grey – but just as uninviting.
Interestingly enough, she and Poe were put into a cell together. There, they were roughly manoeuvred and shackled into two identical interrogation chairs, facing one another.
There was undoubtably a sick and twisted reason for that.
Once secured, they were left alone with nothing but the darkness and each other for company.
A deep, agitated sigh came from Nova's lips, and she allowed her head to loll backwards. There was no comfortable position for it to rest against the metal of the chair, but she did not care.
She had been in far more uncomfortable positions.
"You okay?"
She found the energy to lift her head again, raising an eyebrow at Poe through the darkness. "Seriously?"
Poe chuckled, casting his eyes up to the ceiling – just as dark as the walls and the floor. "You know what I mean."
"I do," she muttered. She knew exactly what he had meant.
Silence fell, and with it came the first inklings of helplessness.
"Why'd you come with me?"
"Hmm?"
"Why'd you come with me?" Poe repeated. "I get how important this is to you. Trust me, I do. But it was a one-man job. I would have been fine on my own. I knew the risks and what I could end up in way back when we started this."
"You think I didn't?" she fired back, indignant. "And that's not why I asked to come."
"Then why? Please, just tell me."
Nova sighed again. "I came because of those risks. I actually have some idea of what to expect from this, and how to deal with it. I wasn't about to let you go in blind and alone. This mission should have been mine in the first place."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes."
An uncomfortable tension came with the silence this time – the sort so thick it was almost tangible.
"I'm sorry," Nova muttered shortly. If they really were to be stuck there, to be tortured until death or worse, she would rather they were not angry at each other.
Poe offered a half-smile, doing his best to create some comfort. But it was of little use to either of them. "You know we're on our own now, right? We're beyond reach?"
She nodded. "I know."
---
The torture lasted for hours without respite.
Nova had been able to withstand the first hour or so, even managing a few snide remarks. Until the questions became fewer, and the voltage was turned up. After that, all she could get out were strangled screams. She did her best to hold them down – die silent to deprive them of satisfaction and all that – but there was only so much her body could handle.
Poe too had been shouting – begging them to stop as having to watch, utterly helpless and powerless, became too much for him to bare. His efforts garnered him a sizeable gash to his left temple after being released from his restraints, only to be slammed into the wall in an attempt to shut him up.
An attempt that only made him angrier and earned Nova a punch to the face for her pleas.
They tortured her until she was close to unconsciousness, before releasing her from the chair.
Body limp, she collapsed to the floor, blood trickling from her mouth. Her world soon faded to black, her ears still ringing as Poe started to scream.
It took another couple of hours before she woke again, every muscle feeling like it was on fire. She had been strapped back into the chair, a fact she was grateful for only because it kept her upright.
The blood from her mouth had leaked and dried on her chin to compliment her split lip and black eye.
As she adjusted to the light, her gaze fell upon Kylo Ren; crouched before her in the shadows. Watching her.
"What do you want?" she muttered, willing her head to stop spinning long enough to deal with her next problem.
"To congratulate you," Ren said. He almost sounded impressed, but that could not be right. It had never been in his nature to be impressed with her. "You held up well. Perhaps I misjudged you."
"I'm full of surprises," she snarked.
Ren made no move.
Nova took the opportunity to look past him to Poe, finding him unconscious and even worse for wear than herself. But upon a careful inspection, she could just about see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, even though it was a little staggered.
He was still alive.
Ren turned, following her gaze. "Your heart betrays you, little sister."
Her jaw clenched at the name. "At least I have one." It was childish, but she could not bring herself to care. He was hardly above it himself.
He stood; his stride heavy as he slowly approached. "I don't wish to hurt you."
Nova managed a scoff despite her aching ribs. "You're too late for that, brother."
"I know you'll never betray the location of the map. But him." He turned back to look at Poe. "It wouldn't take much."
"He's held up this far, hasn't he?"
"Screaming for them to leave you the whole time. I wouldn't even have to touch him. Just you..."
"You underestimate him. He's not so stupid as to give up that information, even for my sake."
"I think you underestimate him," Ren mused. "Of course, you could help him avoid all that heartache by simply cooperating."
"No."
Ren's patience had run out.
He raised a gloved hand, inches from Nova's face as he began to search through her mind. A process that was none too pleasant for the victim to say the least.
Nova threw herself against her restraints in a challenge, glaring up to where she knew his eyes to be behind the mask. If he thought he was not in for a fight, he was sorely mistaken.
Summoning all her strength, she buried any thoughts of her mission deep below the surface, sealing it behind high walls. Walls of memories from years of exile, all because of him.
Ren was unbothered, continuing to push further through her defences, finding happier memories. Of missions accomplished. Shared laughter and drinks with her fellow pilots. New bonds formed, not quite family, but the closest she would allow herself to have.
And Poe. Every moment they had shared pulled to the front of her mind, even the ones she had willed herself to forget and ignore because it was too uncertain. Too dangerous. And yet, despite all her efforts, she had still failed to protect him.
A nerve had been struck touching those thoughts.
She could feel it flowing through her, fuelled by her anger. Stronger than she had ever felt it before. Ordinarily it would have scared her, but there was no time for that.
Her hands became fists in her restraints, and with an anguished scream, she finally freed her mind from his intrusive hold.
Energy spent; her brown eyes fell closed once more; dead to the world.
---
Poe's first thought upon waking up was that everything hurt.
Every breath he took was an insult to his aching ribs, that seemed to take it very personally. Most likely at least one of them had been cracked in the process of his beatings.
He had stopped bleeding at least – the blood from his head injury still drying down the side of his face.
He blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the low light and stop his thoughts from spinning. Everything had started to blur together in his mind, leaving him unsure where one thought ended and another began.
And Maker, was he tired.
His period of adjustment was short lived as the other presence in the room made himself known.
"I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board," Ren said. The title, one that Poe often not-so-secretly enjoyed, had never sounded so condescending before. "Comfortable?"
"Not really." Poe leaned forward in his restraints. "The accommodations leave something to be desired."
The dark lord ignored the sarcasm. "I'm impressed. No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map."
"Might wanna rethink your technique," Poe responded dryly.
Ren said nothing this time. Instead, he stepped aside to reveal Poe's beaten and bloodied wing-woman.
The sight hurt Poe to his very core.
Nova's head lolled forward; chin almost tucked entirely into her neck. Her hair hung over her face, obscuring it from his view. He dreaded to think how many cuts and bruises now stained her fair skin.
"You should be proud," Ren said. "She put up quite the fight. And had a lot of faith in you. It would be a shame if you disappointed her, wouldn't it?"
Poe forced himself to look away, bringing his full attention back to Kylo Ren.
Once more, the dark lord raised his hand, forcing his way inside Poe's head.
The only word Poe could find to describe the sensation was pure agony. Worse than any pain he could remember feeling. He did his best to grit his teeth against it, but before long it was too much for him to bare.
"Where is it?" Ren spat beneath his mask mercilessly.
"The Resistance..." Poe struggled to get the words out, his breathing strained and chest feeling tight, "will not be intimidated by you."
Ren doubled his efforts, digging further and further until Poe's mind could no longer put up a fight, leaving him exposed. And the dark lord dug through them without a care in the world as to how private they were.
"Where... is it?" he repeated, his voice a demanding growl.
All Poe could do was scream.