Phasma isn't taking any of Kylo's shit, and neither is Rey.
Some of the good guys are warming up to Ichara a tiny bit, and she might kind of like them too.
"Keep your grubby little force fingers off me, scavenger."
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for .)
Chapter Text
Kylo was so livid that his mind was unable to process the magnitude of the white hot rage burning inside him. He made the return trip back to the Finalizer in silence, mind empty of thought, doing his best to sit and the controls and simply exist. If Rey had come with him, he wasn't entirely sure what would happen next- he hadn't really thought that far ahead. He just knew that he wanted her, and the fact that she literally slipped from his grasp was almost more than he could bear.
When his ship landed in the hangar Hux and his entourage were already waiting for him. He and Phasma were surrounded by a handful of his guards in what appeared to be an abandoned hangar. It seemed the General wanted to keep this incident as little-known as possible, no doubt viewing their actions as a direct disrespect to himself more than a security risk.
"What exactly did you two expect to accomplish by running off without informing a single kriffing person of where you were going? That's foolishly reckless behavior, Ren, even for you."
"You seem to forget that you answer to me, General, not the other way around."
The General's attention shifted, eyes searching the ramp behind him. "Where is she?"
Kylo shrugged. "I lost her. She was inept and captured. Likely dead."
"You lost her?" Hux balled his hands into fists as he approached him, voice rising to a shouting crescendo "You impetuous and absolutely incompetent cretin how in the hell do you just casually lose an entire person?! You-"
A flame of his rage flickered through a crack, leading Kylo to punch Hux in the face as hard as he could. The General fell to the ground, knocked unconscious on impact. His guards' hands moved to their holsters, but Phasma snatched her blaster forward brazenly aiming it directly at his face.
"That is enough."
Kylo stalked towards her slowly till the muzzle was inches from his face.
"Have you forgotten who your Supreme Leader is?"
"No."
Kylo had noticed the small shift in power dynamics since Canto Bight. Hux had suddenly become more comfortable in being blatantly disrespectful, using his guards to make the not so subtle point that they would obey Hux over him. Hux didn't do anything that didn't have some point to it, and he wondered what the end game of this new display was.
"What you're doing right now could be considered treasonous, Phasma."
"Would it?"
His eyes darted to the other elite guard, hands on their blasters, seemingly emboldened by Phasma's display. He felt trapped... he felt alone. He just realized that he'd abandoned the one single person that supported him on this ship. A moan from Hux broke the tension of the standoff.
"Let General Hux know that I'll debrief him once he's calmed down."
Phasma didn't respond, holding her blaster up for a moment more before lowering it and marching past him to help Hux to his feet.
Hux held one hand to his face, gently pressing the purpling bruise on his jawline, the other steadying himself on his shiny compatriot. His eyes followed Kylo as he left, a bloody smirk at the corner of his mouth. "I need to get to the bridge. It's time to send a squadron out to Balamin. Make sure to hand pick the worst pilots we have."
He swayed for a second when he went to stand on his own. "Sir, are you sure you're alright?"
"Don't worry about me, Phasma. I feel excellent."
-
Leia reached a hand out to touch Rey's arm.
Her shoulders shook as she sobbed. It felt like she'd lost everything and the despair was overwhelming. Ben chose the First Order over her again, and now she looked like a traitor to the Resistance. The rag tag bunch of Rebels had become the closest thing to a family she ever had, and the thought of losing them broke her heart.
"Rey, I need you to be honest with me right now, and I need you to tell me everything. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt us intentionally, but I need to know what you've done."
"I haven't done anything! It- it was Snoke. He made this thing called a force bond between me and Ben, and I can't really control it all the way. I can feel what he feels across the Force, and sometimes it connects us- it's like I'm there and he's here, but not really. When he landed on the planet he called to me, and I was so surprised that he'd found us. I didn't tell him anything about where we are, I promise. The flower, it was in my hair I didn't give it to him. I guess he recognized where it came from. I'm sorry, General, I'm so sorry, I thought maybe I could use the bond to turn him back to the light. There's still good in Ben's heart, I can feel it. And I didn't throw Poe! It just happened I don't know how, I-" the sentence dissolved into more weeping at the memory of the look on Poe's face.
"Rey... his name is Kylo Ren. He's the Supreme Leader of the First Order and you need to remember this. Ben has been gone for years, I don't want to hear you use that name again. Why didn't you tell me about this when it started happening?"
"I don't know... I-I was afraid you might not want me here, and I didn't want to lose my friends. You're my family."
"Family doesn't give up on each other, Rey. We will always be here for you, no matter what. It's going to be okay- you're going to be okay."
Rey nodded and wiped her face on her arm wrappings, embarrassed at the mess she was.
"At least we have a heads up that they know our location. We're going to have to load up the transports and leave as soon as we can. I hate to do this, Rey, but given the nature of the situation... we'll have to keep you somewhere that he can't tell anything about our surroundings, and I can't tell you where we're going. I want to help you, but I'm going to need to research this more. Maybe something can be done to end it."
She nodded solemnly, still catching her breath from her sobbing. The doors opened and Poe stepped into the room, refusing to look at Rey.
"Is everything alright, General? "
"Poe, I need you to take her..." her sentence drifted off, not wanting to say the words. She expressed enough intent with her look on her face for Poe to stop her.
"Don't worry General, I've got it."
"When you return I need you to make sure everyone is up and loading transports. We can't stay here."
"The merc said something about a scouter squadron coming out here, I'll keep an eye out for them. We should be gone by the time they get here. Assuming she isn't lying of course."
"Poe, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Rey stood, eyes searching his face for some scrap of forgiveness.
It was strange to see his face, usually so animated, cast in a grey, somber expression. "Rey... Just... Please don't talk to me."
Silent tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as he lead her to the only working cell.
Ichara lept to her feet. "Really? You're going to put her in here with me? Are you sure that's safe? I mean for my safety, of course, the whole force thing and all."
"Rey, if she doesn't shut up you have permission to kill her."
"Is that seriously your idea of a kriffing joke? "
Rey smiled softly, "Thanks, Poe." The humor was proof that maybe she wasn't entirely unforgivable in his eyes. He still couldn't bring himself to manage anything pleasant towards her, and left quickly without saying another word.
Ichara fell back into the wall, the armor making an obnoxious squealing noise as she slid down to her previous sitting position.
"What's wrong with you? I can't feel you in the force." Rey was actually glad to have a distraction, she didn't want to think about the seriousness of the situation she was in. She sat cross legged on one of the cots, attention turned to the woman on the floor.
Ichara closed her eyes, leaning her head back in the corner. "If I can keep Kylo out I can keep you out. Keep your grubby little force fingers off me, scavenger. Go to sleep." The darkness inside her was screaming to be released, her enjoyment of the situation only making it that much stronger.
Scavenger. Her voice was almost familiar to Rey, but it shouldn't be. She reminded her of the apprentice, but she knew what that darkness felt like. It was even deeper and darker than how Kylo felt; like she was looking into a pit. Whoever or whatever the masked thing was, it lost to the darkness forever; there was no hope for it.
"What was it like, working with..." with Ben. "With Kylo Ren?"
She opened one eye "You're not going to give me peace, are you?" she sighed and leant forward. "The last time I displeased him, he took his hand and squeezed so hard I saw stars at the edge of my vision... then took his mouth and held it just an inch from mine to suck the air from me."
Rey blanched at the description. "W-why would he do that?"
"I told him I hated him and punched him in the mouth." she laughed " It was so worth it."
A sudden defensiveness came over her "Well it sounds like you deserved it, then, that's a horrible thing to do."
Ichara's eyes flashed and her hand jerked involuntarily, the darkness threatening to break through thinning resolve. Don't ruin this because of your ego. Calm down. She needed to give it something to chew on though or risk snapping.
"Rey, I need you to listen to me, real, real close. I know Kylo Ren better than you ever will. He's a broken man, and broken things have sharp edges. Don't think that brokenness in him won't cut you to the bone, because it will." There was a sudden intensity to her words, a flicker of darkness in her eyes. "And he'd just let you bleed out."
"If you're trying to scare me it isn't working. I don't think you know him at all, you're just trying to be mean. I've seen the good in him." She didn't want to think about the darkness that resided along side it, what it made him capable of, or the things he did when consumed by it.
She leant forward, staring into Rey's eyes, her voice dropping to a hushed tone. "Sometimes... when everything was still... I could see the good man in him slip out. He'd bite his lip, the depths of his eyes swirling with an unspoken worry; a sadness in his chest so heavy and all-encompassing it would drown a lesser man. And it was in those fleeting moments, I would truly find my heart breaking for him." Rey hung on every word she said, mesmerized.
"But then I would remember the agony that he was responsible for, the way his mistakes caused everyone around him to suffer... I would remember how he earned every scar and I reveled in his misery. What real worth can a 'good man' have if he lives inside a monster? Besides... if he's so good, Rey, why did you abandon him again?"
"I didn't abandon him! It's not that simple, I... I couldn't expect someone like you to understand. Why did he even bring you anyways? Wouldn't it have made more sense for him to bring his apprentice?"
She cocked her head to the side, deciding to toe a dangerous line. "He did bring her- with all of your magical light side powers I'd have expected you knew that. He didn't tell you? Tsk tsk, tricky boy."
"How did you escape then? I still don't entirely believe you."
"I lied to him. Bad guys lie all the time. Simple. I'm going to try and sleep now and I suggest you do the same. I'm sick of talking about him." She closed her eyes and reclined back into the corner.
Rey didn't think she'd be able to sleep with everything that was going on, but crying was surprisingly taxing. She quickly drifted off, curled up in a ball on the cot. Ichara didn't rest long, and what she did get was a light almost waking sleep. Rey was snoring softly, and Ichara did her best to quietly creep up to stand beside her and gently raise her hand, allowing the darkness to slither forth. It was a risky move, but she likely wouldn't have another chance like this and the curiosity about their relationship was just too much.
She saw them hugging in the field Oh, adorable. The hand touch on Ach-to, and many many more conversations than she expected to see happening over the force bond. She was both impressed and irritated that Kylo had managed to keep such a huge secret from her for so long. Perhaps she was slipping.
"What are you doing?"
She pulled back into herself and spun around to see Poe and Finn standing at the control panel.
"Being jealous of how soundly she's resting. I can't sleep. This place is awful."
Rey woke groggily to the sound of voices, heart sinking as reality sunk in. "So it wasn't a bad dream then, I really am in here."
Poe lowered the forcefield, "Finn, you go on and take Rey, I need to have a word with our guest."
Finn motioned for her, a sad expression on his face; it seemed he knew about what happened too. It just served to compound Rey's misery even more.
Poe waited until they left before he walked over. "Since you claim to know so much, tell me this." he pulled his blaster out and pointed it at her. "How do you stop a force bond?"
"Rude. Put the blaster down and I'll tell you."
"I'm not playing games with you. Tell me. Now."
She arched an eyebrow, a slight smirk on her lips. "There's only one thing that can end it. It's the same power than ends all things- Death."
"So I have to kill Kylo Ren to free her?"
She threw her head back and laughed hysterically, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. Poe lowered his blaster, offended at her response. "What, you don't think I can't do it?"
"You're going to have to beat me to it- that particular hit belongs to me."
"Oh is that a bet? You're on. Now let's go, we're leaving. You were right about the squadron, by the way- we don't have long before more ships get here and we have to go. You'll be with us on the Falcon so we can keep an eye on you."
The transports docked in a large ship just outside of the planet's orbit before shooting into hyperspace.
By the time the Finalizer reached the planet's orbit they were long gone.
When Kylo entered Hux's office he was staring out at the stars instead of sitting at his desk. There were two additional guards inside on each side of the door.
"Is there a particular reason you've taken to additional security Hux? If there is a security issue I should be made aware."
"Did you look for her before you left? Or did you just take off?" he didn't even turn around to look at him as he spoke.
Kylo sighed. "I believe she was ambushed and captured, there was no way for me to retrieve her. She's the one who came up with the plan, and she's the one who failed it."
Hux shook his head, still looking out at the stars. "So your apprentice gave you orders and then you let her fall into enemy hands. Brilliant."
"Have you forgotten who you're talking to?" he stalked over to Hux, physically spinning around to face him. His eyes glanced down to a dark purple bruise that had settled into the hinge of his jaw, a slight swell bowing out on his usually sharp jaw line. "I am your Supreme Leader, and you will respect me."
"The Resistance is gone, Ren. You found them before, I suggest you find them again. The public execution of your apprentice would be an extreme embarrassment... if she isn't already dead."
The two men just glared at each other for a moment before Hux continued on in a noticeably softer voice, missing the usual acidic edge to his tone. "To be quite frank, Ren, I can't stomach looking at your face right now. Just... please leave me alone." he shrugged his shoulder free and turned back to look at the stars. It was the closest expression to sadness Kylo had ever seen on his face, usually perpetually contorted into some form of sneer.
"You still care for her, don't you."
"Would it matter if I did?"
"No. No I suppose it wouldn't." Kylo left without saying another word.
It wasn't entirely an act. Hux hadn't heard anything from her and he was starting to get worried. If they actually did kill her Hux swore he would do the best he could to drag out Ren's execution as long and painfully as possible. While Ichara wanted to slowly choke him to death on stage, Hux wanted to cut his throat from ear to ear while he knelt in front of him. They decided to come to an agreement when the time was closer.
If she just comes back I'll let her do whatever she damn well wants with him.
"Don't make me do this alone, beast." he whispered to the darkness of space spread before him.
-
Kylo was horrified at the sight of Rey when he found her through the force again. Rey & Ichara both sat cuffed side by side in the cargo hold of the Millenium Falcon.
"Rey, I-"
Rey clambered to her feet, angry "This is all your fault! My friends don't trust me anymore because of you! They know about the bond and how you used it to hunt us down."
Ichara stayed seated, raising a finger to her lips. Shhh.
" Don't worry, Supreme Leader." she winked "I'll keep her safe for you."
"You."
"Sorry, Kylo. I ran. Can you really blame me? I mean, are you actually surprised?"
"You!"
His hand shot forward and she was pulled up the wall, hands clawing at her throat as he choked her. She didn't fight back with the force, she just flailed- heels kicking against the wall as she struggled for air.
"Stop it, Ben!"
He ignored her, grinding his teeth as he squeezed harder.
"Kylo Ren! Stop it!"
He dropped her to the floor, eyes wounded at the use of that name. For awhile he'd insisted that she call him that instead of his birth name, but now hearing it on her lips hurt him.
"Oh hell no!" He turned around to see Poe in the doorway, drawing his blaster and firing two shots through him. He disappeared.
"Rey, are you okay? So that's the thing the General was talking about?"
One lone tear ran down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry Poe." He couldn't stay mad and ran to her, wrapping his arms around her.
"Hey I know it's not your fault, you didn't ask for this."
Ichara was coughing, laid out on her side as she caught her breath. "Well he knows I'm here now and he's pissed , so thanks for that. If you insist on keeping me prisoner can you at least put me somewhere without a Kylo Ren magnet?"
"We could always drop you out an airlock."
"You know, I think that might be the best option at this point."
"If Kylo Ren hates you, I can't have too big a problem with you, come on." He removed Rey's cuffs and helped Ichara to her feet, "Don't make me regret this." and uncuffed her too. "Once we land on the main ship I'm gonna have to put these back on. No one wants to see you like this, Rey, but she can't show favoritism and you have to understand how this looks."
"I know, Poe."
"And what did you say your name was? Orgida?"
"Yeah, but my friends call me 'chara." she raised her eyebrows and smiled "So...."
"So come on Orgida, or you can hang out with the cargo, either is fine with me." She rolled her eyes and followed behind them.
Finn smiled when he saw Poe and Rey walk into the common area, but cringed at the sight of Ichara behind them. "You sure you want that thing loose?"
"Oh come on, we both worked for the First Order. That pretty much makes buddies."
He shook his head emphatically. "Oh no, no I don't think it does."
She fell into a chair with a graceless thud. "I thought the good guys were supposed to be nice."
"Sorry, only to other good guys."
"Fair enough." she crossed her legs, eyes scanning the room, everyone staring at her with expressions ranging from intrigue to disgust. "So tell me, how do I become a good guy?"
Notes:
I love Poe so much. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I got a kick out of writing it!