Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
One foot in front of the other.
Rey tiptoed inside the cramped chamber which was much bigger than she'd last remembered. Maybe it was from the angle she was standing in. But that was when she was saw it through the bond.
Now she was there in person, Rey could actually look around, examining the features inside the room. Everything from the texture of the walls and floors were black or in other dull colors. There were a lot of vents and machines that must be used for other methods of torture. Worse ones probably.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the door to the chamber shut behind her. The hissing sound caused her to jump out of her own skin. The chill in the air sent a shiver down Rey's spine. The realization that she was in a torture room of the First Order's Star Destroyer sank in her brain. Rey took slow, steady steps, feeling as if she should be more cautious than ever about being in here.
But this would be wasting time. Ben was just a few steps away.
Rey looked to her right and saw the loud mechanical churning sounds of the machine that sent electric currents throughout Ben's body. It frightened her. It was the sheer reminder of the fact that she was once in a room like this before.
The sounds sent goosebumps all over her skin. She shouldn't complain or compare her experiences, though. Rey thought of her mind being infiltrated was pain. Well, seeing Ben scream as volts of electricity acting as if his own flesh and bones were aflame brought Rey to her knees. There was no worse pain than seeing the person you love in pain. The person I love.
Rey walked over to the machine and looked around for something to shut it off. She wanted it destroyed. Burned to nothing but liquid metal. She wanted this whole room burned to the ground. Everything in flames and ashes.
Rey stretched her arm out, lifting her hand in front of the tall machine and let her mind search for its core and turned it off as easy as flipping a switch on the Falcon's controls.
Rey heard a whimper coming from the middle of the room. She whipped her head towards it, knowing he must be unconscious or asleep. Rey stepped away from the machine and standing there, she finally saw Ben in his vulnerable, damaged state.
There, in front of her, Ben laid so quiet and calm. Almost too quiet. It would seem he was almost asleep. But Rey looked beyond Ben's figure. He must be exhausted. Being locked up there for days to be shocked with electrical currents again and again definitely worn him out. She could how sweaty his bare torso was, how the sweat also collected along his hairline and clustered his greasy hair (which has grown over time) all over his face. She noticed how he was shivering, how he shook against the table and under the metal cuffs keeping him tied down. If Ben weren't so tall and muscular, she'd see a child trapped inside a nightmare. A living nightmare, in fact.
Is this what Ben looked like when he had his nightmares? To look so gentle but beautifully damaged?
Rey ran over to him, taking her hands out and using the Force to unlock the shackles. She ripped them off, slowly taking Ben's large, smooth hands out of the binders and placed them down at his sides. She glanced up at his face, feeling like she was suddenly walking on thin ice.
Her heart gripped itself inside her ribcage. Her stomach did flips. Somersaults. If she didn't know any better, she'd admit she felt rather shy at the moment. It felt as if she were violating a rule or breaking a boundary of some kind—seeing him like this up close again even though she's seen him unconscious before. She's even seen him shirtless. But he was practically naked. And to see him so. . .hurt. . .
A part of Rey kind of liked it though. How mundane it was. This broken, more intensely vulnerable version of the man in front of her. It told her that this was Ben. That he wasn't Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren. This man she had a connection was true. He wasn't hiding. He was an open book. In fact, the longer her gaze lingered on his perfectly shaped and grimy face, he seemed so pure and innocent like she's seen before in the throne room, before she left.
Except this time, she wasn't leaving him.
Rey raised a hand to his face and gently used her fingers to remove the damp streaks of hair to the sides of his face. Those locks black as oil cascaded around him so beautifully. Everything about him was beautiful. She couldn't help but smile. He was truly something like a prince she heard about from stories told back on Jakku. Fables and legends one generation would share with the next.
Rey forced herself to remember why she was there.
She needed to figure out how to wake Ben up.
"Ben," Rey whispered, leaning close to his ear. "Ben, please. I need you to wake up."
Rey placed her hand over his once again, but when she did, she heard a faint echo of a word. Heal. A whisper. A calling. Rey closed her eyes as if that'll help her listen to the voice one more time. Heal. The desert girl wondered where the voice was coming from, but the way it made her feel. . .
It was as if the Force that was telling her to do this. It was helping her. Guiding her.
And if this was the Force guiding her to help Ben, then she would gladly answer.
Rey opened her eyes, lifting her hand off of Ben's as she looked up at his face again, knowing what she had to do.
She closed her eyes again and this time when she placed her hand on top of Ben's, she searched within herself for some of her energy and her strength. She collected it together and felt it rise within her. Then she called it out and to sent its way to Ben. That was when an amount of her very energy, her life force ran through her veins and shot out of her, leaving her fingers and into Ben.
After, it was a rough and spiking sensation like she stood up too quickly and her vision blanked out in spots. That went away though, but she did feel a bit drained. Rey had to shut her eyes tighter, keeping them that way until she gathered herself. Then she lifted her hand, but felt it fell back down on top of Ben's like there was a magnetic pull drawn to it.
When Rey decided to force herself out of that daze, she blinked a few times and caught a glimpse of Ben stirring slightly.
He's waking up!
It worked!
"Ben?"
Ben's eyes fluttered as his chapped lips parted simultaneously. He softly inhaled, picking up a sent of a light fragrance along with it. It was a sweetness like honey along the lines of something rough like sand or wind. It overwhelmed his senses, but in a good way.
As Ben's eyelids lifted, his vision blurring everything he saw. Every color he made out was all psychedelic, like the time he woke up from the throne room. But instead of spots of black and orange, he saw black and pink.
Deep shades of pink and hints of brown forming into a singular silhouette. Ben closed his eyes and opened them again, attempting to clear his vision.
"Ben!"
Suddenly, that rush of adrenaline shocked him greater than the electricity had before. Everything was vivid and alive. His senses were fully awake and alert. His outsides felt hollow while his insides were warm. Ben felt his core melting and molding, every muscle soothing away from restraint. It felt like his full body, inside and out were being cleansed with warm water. It was relaxing and powerful all at the same time.
Ben stretched his fingers out, and in doing so, he felt a weight on his left hand.
Ben turned his head in that direction, looking for the reason behind it. That was where he also found the reason behind his source of remedy. He closed his eyes just to open them to Rey.
Wait. Rey?
What was she doing here?
"Rey?" he mumbled, his mind piecing everything together, wondering if he was seeing things right.
Rey smiled, taking pleasure in hearing him say her name. She held his cheek again, rotating his face to meet hers. "Ben, I'm here," she said. "It's okay."
Ben felt relaxed from the vivid sense of warmth from her hand pressed over his. Her fingers started running against his skin. If he were standing, he'd be falling on his knees at the sight of her.
"Rey," he whispered, overjoyed by her presence. "You shouldn't—"
"But I am."
He just knew she wouldn't stay away. He knew even if he tried to stop her, to keep her away—she'd still come to him.
"I'm here for you, Ben," she answered. "It's okay. You're safe."
Ben searched her eyes, feeling the safety of her comfort already. She cared about him enough to go there. And he smiled for that.
Rey smiled back. She lifted her hand to his bare shoulders, feeling a wetness there from his sweat and pushed on even though she was slightly disgusted. Well, she's been covered in nothing but sweat plenty of times before back on Jakku. She has particularly bathed in it.
"Come on, Ben," she muttered, tapping into the Force to help him up since he seemed too distracted to do so himself.
As Ben closed his eyes again, something came to mind. What did she mean she's here for me?
Wait.
Ben shook his wrists and felt nothing.
The binders weren't on him. And when he thought of it, he couldn't hear that annoying machine anymore. He looked up at Rey and saw she was blankly staring at him, seeing him process all of this.
Ben lifted a hand to her cheek, feeling the shape of the smooth skin against his palm. "Are you—?" he asked, but stopped himself short, afraid of the answer. But what if it's true?
Rey leaned into his hand, confirming his suspicions. She leaned away from his hand quickly though, a bit irritated as she continued to help Ben up.
Ben used his upper arms to push himself up and immediately felt the strain on his back muscles. It felt good to be up off his back. He looked over to Rey and watched as she stepped back. His gaze consumed everything about her from how calm and tenacious she appeared to be despite where she was and the way that she dressed with the different palette of colors that reminded him of dawn.
Rey felt her heart pound harder inside her chest as she ran her eyes over his broad shoulders, down his sculpted chest. She swallowed hard, feeling heat collect inside her cheeks.
For a long moment, they continued to stare at each other with the small distance between them until Rey said out loud, "I'm really here."
"How—"
"I'm here to rescue you."
"But how?"
"We flew here."
"We?"
Knowing there was not enough time, Rey held out her hand and Ben didn't hesitate to place his inside hers. He pulled her close, rubbing his thumbs around the soft spot of skin on the inside of her wrist and felt for a pulse. He knew for a fact that she was there in front of him in person. That this wasn't the bond projecting her here while she was actually somewhere across the galaxy. And he smiled again, but even wider this time—with teeth and dimples exposed.
Rey was physically here.
She was here on the Star Destroyer.
Ben planted his feet one after the other on the floor, though he felt able to walk, his knees and legs were a bit wobbly at first. Rey stretched her hands out, helping him regain his balance, noticing how close of proximity this put them, though she felt nothing but contentment.
Ben needed to give himself time to process what exactly was occurring in that very moment. He didn't care if Stormtroopers came marching through the door. He was taking all of this moment could offer for himself. He rested a hand on her neck as he brought himself over her like a giant question mark. He leaned his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes as he breathed her in. As he took in being this close to her.
He fought. He fought and fought for her. Because of her. And now he had her.
Ben heard a small, quick giggle Rey made as her hands pressed against the hard muscle of his stomach, feeling him under her palms.
Rey looked up, seeing how she stood right underneath him. With their perfect height difference, she could tuck herself inside him. And she wanted to do just that. To hold him and never let go.
The intimacy of this made her heart beat faster. The very organ pounding so hard as it was already, she was sure it was loud enough that Ben could hear it.
Ben finally opened his eyes, looking down at Rey, grasping on to both of her hands.
Rey opened her mouth about to say something, but decided not to. It wasn't the time. They were in the middle of a dangerous situation in enemy lines. But still, she couldn't deny the heat rising inside her cheeks that she ducked her head down to hide it and the smile creeping along her mouth.
Ben acknowledged the way Rey looked at him. Like he never had killed a living person before. It felt nice. And that very affect scared him a little. He looked down at their hands, releasing his fingers from hers. "You shouldn't be here," he told her, though part of him hated himself for breaking up their reunion like this.
Rey's brows came together in frustration. She shook her head once and took back his hands. "I couldn't leave you here to die."
Ben glanced to the ceiling, wishing she didn't have to be so stubborn. Though it made her cute. Why couldn't she just listen to him the first time? "What mattered was that you were as far away—"
Rey rolled her eyes, intertwining her fingers with his and tugged him forward. "Ben, we can both talk about this once we're on the Falcon."
"The Falcon?" he asked, as if he didn't hear her correctly. "As in the Millennium Falcon?"
"Of course," she said, as if there was obviously no other choice in the matter.
Oh, great.
Ben was happy to be rescued. He was. He was grateful to be rescued only for the getaway ship to be the very vessel that reminded him of his hatred for his father. Now he had to deliberately board it just to survive.
"That piece of junk?"
Rey shrugged her shoulders. "Unless you have any other brighter ideas that'll get us out of here alive?"
When nothing came to mind, Ben rethought his options. "The garbage will do."
Rey tugged Ben's hand as she took the lead for the door, but he stopped when he realized one thing.
"Uh, Rey," he said, looking down at his bare torso, "I need my clothes."
Rey realized that she forgot about the fact that Ben was still shirtless and half naked, only in his underwear. She felt the inside of her cheeks heat up as she slowly unwrapped Ben's arm from her shoulders. She turned around and found a black sweater and matching pair of pants nearby hanging on a rack. Then she saw a pair of black boots and Rey handed them to him and waited for him to slip them all on. She turned around for some reason, maybe to give him privacy, or to hide that fact that her cheeks were heating up once more.
That was when she caught a shimmer of a pair of black leather gloves laying on ground where the boots were. She picked them up and handed them to a fully clothed Ben. "These are yours?"
Ben stared at them in Rey's hand. It made her wonder what he was going to do with them.
He looked at them once, then he took them and threw them over his shoulder, letting them randomly fall on the floor as he took her hand again.
Rey gave him a long look, mentally asking him, Are you good to go?
And he looked back unblinkingly. Yes.
Once they were at the door, Rey pushed the button for it to open and when it did, they met two Stormtroopers standing on guard. Rey gasped, forgetting that they were her friends until she noticed the one on her left was too short to be a Stormtrooper. Rose. She glanced to the other, much taller one. Finn.
Rey felt Ben's hand grip her shoulder, he stepped forward while quickly warning her, "Rey, get back."
Rey pressed a hand to his side, "Wait, they're with us."
Rey looked back to her friends and they stopped there, watching as the two Stormtroopers take off their helmets to reveal their true identities. Ben looked from one of the guards to the other and back to Rey.
She had help.
She did mention 'we'.
Now that Finn had his mask off, he could clearly see what was in front him. An injured Supreme Leader leaning against his smaller friend Rey. The guy seemed to be half there, as if he just woken up from sleep, but that other half of him was fully alert. Up close, Kylo Ren didn't seem all that evil. At least right now he doesn't.
That didn't mean Finn will keep his guard down. He trusted Rey, but not him. Why did it take them so long anyway? What happened in there?
"We don't have much time," Finn alerted her. "Poe was supposed to have contacted us by now."
"Then let's get out of here," Rey replied, stepping out of the chamber. "We're right behind you."
"What the—?" Ben asked, looking at his feet, Stormtroopers, unconscious. That's when he began to wonder where the two imposter Stormtroopers got their suits. The idea that two soldiers are somewhere on the ship stripped of their uniforms. . .
"I'll explain once we're on the ship."
Rey and Ben started walking, or at least stumbled behind Rose and Finn until a shot fired from a blaster that went off. Then another.
For Ben, everything slowed down.
It all happened as if in slow motion.
One second, they were walking freely on their way to escape. And in the next, the blasters, then Rey screaming in agony. The desert girl felt a hot rush of a million tiny needles clawing at her skin. There was a windy, cool sensation at the edges of the patch of skin of her bare shoulder which was on fire. And her side, beneath her ribs through the leather top was a hole made from a blaster.
She was hit.
Twice.
Rey gripped Ben's wrist, feeling the pain worsening very quickly.
That's when everything focused in.
"Rey!" Ben exclaimed, turning to see her left shoulder marked red and black from a laser blast. And then her side. The large patch of skin on both areas were charred, even some of the material of her shirt was ruined. Then there was blood.
Finn and Rose stopped in their tracks, hearing their friend wail out in pain. They turned around and saw Rey gritting her teeth together, using one hand to clamp her mouth shut so she could muffle out her screams. Though from whom they see standing behind them, they knew it was already too late.
Rey reached a hand out to her shoulder. She leaned forward, trying to grab the wall for upper and to feel anything else but this hot burning pain so they could at least continue heading towards the elevator.
Ben fixed his posture so he wouldn't touch any of the wounds by putting his hands on the back of each of Rey's shoulders, steadily guiding her to the wall so she could lean herself against it. He examined the wounds and saw them start to bleed. Ben stepped to the side so that his back could block her from the open while he peered over his shoulder to see where the blast came from.
And of course. . .
Who else would it be to catch them in the act? The general himself.
General Hux held his blaster in his right hand, aiming the barrel at the ceiling while his eyes aimed daggers at the three radicals trying to recuse the traitor on board. "I didn't make it a kill shot on purpose," Hux announced, hiding his half-grin behind his stone cold glare. Hux turned back to see the Stormtroopers approaching, surrounding the group. "I want Kylo Ren and the girl alive!"
Ben turned himself around to face Hux, knowing he wasn't gonna simply allow that to happen. He needed a weapon, and he needed it fast. His eyes glanced down Hux's right side holster, the one keeping Kylo Ren's lightsaber detained.
It was his only option.
Ben raised his index finger, opening the clip that was holding it down. He bent his fingers and pulled it towards him. Then, the lightsaber went flying in his direction.
Hux watched as the traitor stuck his hand out to catch it. Ben ignited the lightsaber on instinct and moved into a fighting stance. Hux allowed his grin to show and aimed the gun behind Ben's right shoulder to try to get a shot at Rey's head.
"Take her!"
But Ben stepped forward, covering Rey. He needed Hux to know what he's prepared to do if anyone tried to do just that. "You'll have to go through me, first."