Finn led Kylo Ren down the corridors, holding onto his elbow, walking with a sense of purpose but not so briskly as to draw attention. Inside his helmet, he was muttering to himself- keep calm, the plan will work, this is working, and why was he saving this man? Finn had not understood the situation when Poe had told them that Rey had left with Kylo Ren; apparently, it was out of choice. After everything Kylo had done, torturing Poe, nearly killing him and killing Han, Finn couldn't understand why she was with him, why they were rescuing him.
"I can hear you," Kylo whispered out the side of his mouth through gritted teeth to Finn.
Finn picked up the pace slightly, ignoring him, "Keep walking," he said sternly, gripping Kylo's arm a little tighter.
"You there," a Commander was walking towards them. Finn abruptly halted, as did Kylo and next to him, Jakub and Rey did the same. "Where are you taking these prisoners?"
"Emergency procedure, Commander. We're taking the prisoners to an escape shuttle to board another ship."
"The escape pods have launched it's a full system failure; go to hangar twelve and be quick about it."
"Yes, Commander".
The Commander rushed past them, and Finn and the others continued, not far now, to the maintenance hangar, and then they'd be safe; there were a few more turns and corridors. Troops of stormtroopers were marching in different directions. Officers and commanders were frantically trying to fix the issues. Finally, they turned into the maintenance hangar, but as they did so, blasts sounded behind them. It couldn't be easy, just once.
-X-
Rose stood on the boarding ramp of the Falcon, nervously looking around the hangar, her hacking device still in her hands. Since the alarms had gone off, Rose had to continue controlling systems to avoid the sirens being turned off. She could hear the commotion before she saw it. Shouts and blaster fire, and then she saw two troopers- that had to be Jakub and Finn because Rey and Kylo Ren were with them. Rey and Kylo were fending off blaster shots with their sabers, and Jakub and Finn were blasting back.
One of the troopers shouted to her, "Get inside, start taking off!"
Finn. She dashed inside, yelling down the corridors as she did so to Chewie. "We've got trouble. Start to take off."
-X-
Finn ran towards the boarding ramp, occasionally turning to continue blasting. Rey was close behind him, and then Jakub. Kylo was the furthest behind, and as he turned to join them, he was hit by a blaster in the shoulder. Rey started to run back towards him as Finn blasted the troopers entering the hangar to help protect them. Kylo was moving faster now but not enough, and as he tried to defend himself from the blaster shots, another caught him near the ribs, and he spun onto his back onto the boarding ramp.
"Jakub!" Rey yelled, "Help me!"
Jakub went to Kylo, pulled his arm over his head, and dragged him up. "Force be damned, you're heavy," he cursed as he heaved him into the ship.
"Let's go, let's go, close the main hatch!" Finn yelled towards the cockpit.
Rey was now on the boarding ramp, standing in front of Jakub and Kylo, defending them from any further injuries while walking backwards. Finn stood next to her, blasting anything that moved.
"Let's go, punch it!" he yelled again.
The main hatchway was closing slowly, so the ship was defending them more and more, and then finally, it shut. Behind the closed door, Finn could hear the barrage of fire harmlessly hitting the exterior of the freighter, and he allowed himself to let out a sigh of relief. The low-pitched rumble of the engines of the Falcon became a deafening roar as the ship left the hangar and spun around fast before jumping straight to light speed. Finn removed his helmet, and before he could do anything else, Rey had him in a tight hug, "You came for me. Again! Thank you! Thank you!"
Finn held her against him, his best friend, "Anytime."
Finn could sense Rose's presence at his side. He withdrew his hold on Rey, and she immediately turned and embraced Rose.
"Rose, that was incredible, the alarms, just brilliant!"
"Don't forget the escape pods too!" Rose replied animatedly.
Finn smiled at the two women as they embraced, pulled apart to speak excitedly, and hugged again. They were both so technically minded; he loved that they had that bond. Finn's affectionate gaze was disrupted, however, by a giant wall of fur as it strode purposefully past him directly to where Jakub was holding up Kylo Ren, who was clutching his side. Finn watched as Jakub disengaged his hold from Kylo, sensing an air of urgency in Chewie's approach that did not include him. Kylo froze on the spot, apprehension washing over his features as the Wookie, without even a howl or grunt, extended his arm, grabbed Kylo around the neck, picked him up off the floor and slammed him into the wall, bellowing at him. His roars were bloodcurdling as he held Kylo in a ferocious grip. Everyone was now staring at the scene before them in shock until Maz hurried in, "Chewbacca!" she yelled.
Rey's shock broke, and she immediately went to Chewie's arm, trying to loosen his grip on Kylo's neck. "Chewie, stop, stop!"
Kylo was struggling to breathe while both hands held Chewie's giant hand on his neck, his feet struggling to acquire a footing as he was held just off the floor.
"Chewbacca, you put Han Solo's son down. Now!" Maz demanded while tapping him on the leg in a lambasting manner.
Chewie thrust his face closer to Kylo's while maintaining his grip on him and barked one more time, then let go and stepped back. Kylo fell onto all fours, coughing. Rey bent at his side and gently touched his shoulder, but he forcefully shrugged her off. Grasping his ribs with one hand, he stood up, standing as straight as he could manage, his neck red from where Chewie had held him. He was almost panting, but the struggling to breathe now seemed more emotional than from physical exertion. Chewie proceeded to growl and bawl at him, a sequence which Finn assumed was a sentence of some sort. Really must work on my Wookie. Rey stood at Kylo's side; her face had fallen, and her eyes had gone glassy. Han, Chewie was talking about Han, and he could see from Kylo's similar expression that he understood everything Chewie had said.
Kylo's jaw was tense, and he was breathing hard.
"I know. I'm sorry. I'd take it back if I could, but I can't." In between each short statement, Kylo gave a laboured pant, his shoulders rising and falling quickly, his head shaking slightly, "I can't."
Looking at him, Finn thought he appeared genuine in his distress. Chewie yipped at Kylo and then retreated to the cockpit. Maz nodded at Kylo and then followed Chewie to the cockpit. Everyone else stood staring at Kylo. Rey took a step towards him but halted as he raised the hand, not holding onto his ribs. Giving her a crestfallen look, he turned and went down the corridor opposite the cockpit.
Finn took this opportunity, "Rey, what is he doing here? What is going on? You're acting as if you care for him?"
Rey looked down at the floor, sighing, "I can't explain it, and you wouldn't understand if I told you". Now, raising her head, she looked at Finn entreatingly. "Know that he's not what you think, not anymore. Trust me. Please."
Rose took Finn's hand, a gesture he knew was begging him not to say what he was thinking, which was what?
"Of course, Rey," Rose answered. The hand gesture had a secondary purpose, Finn's mutual agreement, albeit under duress.
-X-
Rey found Ben sitting on the floor of the forward hold, leaning against the wall, elbows on raised knees, holding his head, his hands clenching his hair. She knew he'd heard her coming or sensed her presence; she stood for a moment, looking down at him. She could feel the air around him taut as his feelings threatened to overwhelm him. She sat down next to him, she didn't touch him, and she didn't say anything. Slowly, Rey could feel the tension around them reduce, and eventually, Ben released his grasp on his head and tilted his head up to the ceiling of the forward hold, resting it on the wall. Finally, not looking at her, he spoke.
"You should've left me there to die," his breathing was laboured as he said it. Rey knew he was hurt physically, but that wasn't what was making this difficult for him. He was battling a different kind of pain- grief and guilt, and he needed to let it out, so she didn't respond, just continued to listen.
"I'm a monster, and I deserved my fate. I don't deserve to be free of my pain, of the things I've done. Why did you come for me, bring me with you?"
"You know why," now Rey looked at him. He was looking at her imploringly, smears of blood from his hands on his face, "And you're not a monster."
"Yes, I am." He was no longer imploring but anxious and insistent that she understand his meaning. "I killed my father! I've tortured and killed innocent people for myself and the power the dark side gave me or for Snoke. You don't know all the things I've done in the name of that cause. The things I've allowed to happen. I'm the enemy, your enemy and part of me will always be that."
Rey shifted her position to face him, disengaging her back from the wall. She crossed her legs and looked down at the hand that was closest to her, and took it in hers. She breathed deeply as the Force flowed between them.
"You've done monstrous things, yes, but those actions do not define who you are. That's not who you are. I know who you are, who you truly are, good and the bad, the light and the dark.
It's what you do now, what you do next, that's what matters. Now you're free to be you. No manipulations, no expectations. You're free to make your own path." She raised her eyes to look at him and saw his eyes glazed with tears, a single one escaping down the side of his face, falling into his scar.
"It's too late," he shuddered, looked down at her hand in his, and back up at her mournfully. "You can't save me. My father couldn't save me. Luke couldn't save me. You can't save me, Rey."
She smiled a faint, compassionate smile, "No, I can't, just as they couldn't."
He looked at her then in sad resignation. She continued holding his resigned look.
"Only you can do that, but I'll help you, I'll stand with you."
She tilted her head empathically, raising the other hand and placing it on his face. He closed his eyes, and she felt his roiling emotions calm, the tense air melting away and giving rise to that familiar breeze, a breeze she knew came from them. She felt shivers running through her body. She released her hand from his face, and Ben's eyes opened, and he looked down at their enclosed hand.
"I can't do this," Ben confessed.
"Do what?" Rey queried, feeling a slight panic that he was going to ignore it all and return to what he'd always done and been.
"Face them, any of them, all of them; Chewie, my mother and all those Resistance members."
"Poe," she reminded him, grateful that he was fearful of the reactions of all those he'd hurt and did not intend to abandon her.
"Urgh," Ben's head dropped, and instinctively, the hand not holding hers ran through his hair, pulling it from his face. "I really can't do this. Take me back to the Supremacy. Anywhere but this ship and where it's headed."
Ben was trying to lighten an extremely awkward situation he wished to avoid.
"Sure, you can. Han wanted you home. Leia wants you home. So does Chewie just give it time, give them time; don't let it all be in vain."
Ben raised his head, looking up at her with sorrowful eyes, nodding slightly in admission. Rey smiled again and got to her feet, pulling him gently to join her.
"Come on; we've arrived. Let the recrimination begin."
Now he was standing, Ben looked down at her, his deep admiring regard making her cheeks blush. She took the hand she'd been holding and re-positioned it around her shoulders so she could help him walk; she moved her arm closest to him around his back. Ben's gaze on her was interrupted as her fingers clasped his side, and he flinched, taking in a short, sharp breath of air through gritted teeth as the pain in his back and ribs disturbed him.
"And medical, let's get you to the medical bay first and foremost."