The light down in the prisoners' wing was a lot colder than the one upstairs. Perhaps it was just an illusion, but it certainly had a different effect. Maybe it wasn't the light though, but the corridors themselves. They were slimmer, perhaps even a little bit less high. Designed to make you feel more alone and constricted.
Vicrul was already waiting in front of the elevator.
"You found her. Great."
Finding was a bit over the top, after all you had told Kylo where you were. Even though you should have probably called Rosie by her identification number and not her name, that would have made things easier. On the other hand, you wouldn't have even went to her place if you knew that Kylo was going to get you so soon.
Vicrul handed you a medkit and you opened the bag to see what was inside. Gloves, facemasks, syringes and a solution you did not know. It wasn't labeled either. It was clear and could be anything.
"What do I need the gloves and syringes for, Sir."
"Just administer it to them. It'll make them more compliant."
You nodded and got dressed quickly, Kylo opened the door to the interrogation room. A woman was strapped to the interrogation chair, she flinched as she saw Kylo. He stood by the door and quietly discussed something with Vicrul while you went over to her.
You filled the syringe to the top and flicked against it to get rid of the air bubbles.
"Nononono, what is that! Get it away from me!"
You smiled under your facemask and stretched the skin on her fixated arm. She tried moving away but Kylo merely raised a hand without even looking at her, just continuing his quiet conversation with Vicrul. She couldn't move anything apart from her eyes anymore.
"Thank you, Sir.", you said and poked the needle into her arm, administering the strange liquid into her veins.
"What was that!", she said loudly once you were done.
"Don't worry, it won't leave lasting damage. It will just make you more talkative."
You weren't exactly sure about the damage part, but you DID know that it was going to make her more compliant. That was what Kylo had told you, and all you needed to know. Frankly, you personally couldn't care less whether or not it would harm her. Given you hadn't administered this type of liquid to anyone else before you assumed it was going to be more or less a test run.
You stepped back out to Kylo, "Done, Sir."
"Not yet.", he opened another door, "Same solution, same dose."
He was incredibly helpful, just using the Force to pin each and every one of the remaining seven prisoners down. The only thing that still moved were their eyes, staring at you in fear of whatever you had administered to them.
"Thank you for the help, Sir.", you said after you got out of the last cell.
He nodded and looked at the door to the interrogation room, "We will give her fifteen minutes.", he walked a bit further away.
"If you don't mind me asking, Sir...but what was that?", you stripped off your gloves and pulled down your facemask.
"Saline solution.", you couldn't see his face but from his tone he sounded very satisfied with himself.
"You did well. We couldn't let you know what it actually was, in case they read your thoughts. We don't want the Resistance to know of your abilities. Introducing a mystery substance was the best option.", Vicrul added.
"Oh that's smart. Now they'll know though, won't they?"
"No. You'll enter as a void, they will think it is because of the drug.", Kylo said, "Vicrul."
Vicrul nodded and left both of you standing alone in the hallway.
Kylo put his hands on your shoulders, "Do you remember what I told you yesterday night?"
You did. After scolding you for not listening to him he told you what you had done in more detail. You had not only eliminated your own presence from the Force fully, you had also weakened the Force around you. It hadn't really affected him because he had an insanely strong connection to it, but he did suspect that your 'black hole mechanic' (how you liked to call it) could potentially be used to cut someone from the Force completely.
It was a proper void, a rip in the Force and not just you disappearing. Much more draining on you personally but with far more powerful potential.
"Yes, Sir."
"Concentrate on the anger."
"Yes, Sir."
He squeezed your shoulders lightly and you closed your eyes.
"Remember what the Resistance has done to you. The moment they shot your father. Picture it!"
You did as he said, focusing your attention on the exact moment he had been hit. Right in front of your eyes, the Resistance fighter standing on top of a boulder a few meters away. How your father collapsed onto the ground. It did not need much more.
"Good. Use it.", he said quietly. He pulled the facemask back over your head, you nodded.
The doors opened and you followed Kylo inside, Vicrul joined you briefly after.
"Get out! I won't tell you anything!", she shouted, "So far I could withstand any interrogation! We were trained to do that!"
"Training is nothing compared to the actual situation.", Kylo said. His voice was lower than usual, his disgust and hatred for the Resistance could not have been clearer.
"We have been trained by Leia Org-"
Her head crashed against the back of the interrogation chair. Kylo's hand was raised and he stepped closer.
"That will not help you."
You watched her closely, you did not feel sorry for her. It had been her organisation that had killed your father. You concentrated back on the anger and closed your eyes for a brief second.
The void and the pain his death had left in you started to fill out the room. The prisoner's eyes widened at the realization that the 'drug' was apparently starting to kick in. She looked over towards you, her eyes full of fear. You could only smile under your facemask. This. This is what you had wanted to see in the Resistance fighters on your mother's wedding day. Those wide pupils, the sweat dripping down, their breath getting faster. Exactly that.
She started screaming as Kylo used the Force to break through her vastly weakened defenses. Her screams did not last long as she collapsed almost immediately.
"Get her out.", Kylo said to 2333 and 2334.
Vicrul looked over towards you and nodded.
"It worked. One down, seven to go."
Kylo nodded, "Get the next one, Vicrul."
The moment Vicrul had left and the doors had closed Kylo stepped over towards you.
"Do not overdo it. The next ones are less important, I'll tell you when to increase your void."
You waved your hand, "I'm fine."
He shook his head slightly and waited for Vicrul, 2333 and 2334 to bring in the next prisoner.
It was a young man and they had to drag him in as he made no attempt to actually walk himself. He wasn't hurt, as far as you could tell. He just did not want to cooperate.
They fixated him in the chair and the twins left. Vicrul stood in the corner.
The man only barely lifted his head to look at everyone present and then just let it hang down. He looked as if he had given up. Wasn't much of a Resistance there, was there?
"I see you are already defeated.", Kylo noted, watching the man lift his head ever so slightly only to drop it again. He didn't reply and Vicrul shrugged in the corner.
Kylo moved up his hand and turned it slightly, making the man wince but not scream in pain. Yet. It didn't take long.
"Take him away, he has got nothing."
Neither did the next three. Unlike the first man they all put up quite a fight and one of them even pretended he just hadn't gone deep enough. He did regret that though as Kylo made sure to make it extra painful.
Their screams made you...happy, even though you did not really want to admit it. They satisfied you. The medical part of your mind was already checkmarking all the mental disorders you could have, but you pushed it back. To hell with that. That anger actually got you somewhere. Your mother had hated you your entire life but she didn't know how to harness its power. Unlike you.
You thought back to Rosie and stopped yourself from diving deeper down the rabbit hole. So far you did know nothing about the Force. She was right, you had to get off your high horse. It was better to underestimate oneself than overestimate.
They brought in two more women. Both of them had quite the mental defenses up. Kylo had to work through them, it still did not take him long to get into their heads. The pain distorted their faces, they were screaming and sweating and you...
You savoured every moment of it, fueled by their fear your void only increased in strength and size.
Kylo noticed it, so did Vicrul.
"You are making me uncomfortable.", Vicrul said after the twins had transported the woman away.
"I am sorry, Sir.", you apologized, but not allowing your void to collapse.
"No, no...it just shows that Kylo was successful. I didn't think he could do it. After all it's a pretty unheard off ability.", he shook his head and crossed his arms, "It's weird. It just feels like my powers are draining, but I don't think I'd be able to tell it's from you if I didn't know."
You just nodded and kept standing still in the corner. The women had been tough and you had been keeping your void up for a pretty long time. It didn't drain you like it did them, instead it lowered your body temperature. And while you personally were a huge fan of the cold there was a limit. You stood as still as you could, keeping yourself from shivering or clattering with your teeth. So far you had done a pretty good job but you suspected that it wouldn't hold up much longer.
The twins secured the last man. They did have trouble carrying him in because of how much he was moving around.
"Get me out of here!", he hissed, "I won't tell you anything!"
Something about his face was off, he seemed almost triumphant. He had been the last one you had given a shot to. You thought back to it, he'd been an easy one, too. His arteries had been very visible, even in the dim light of the cell.
You stepped forward and lightly touched Kylo's arm to get him to move aside. You pulled off the glove the man was wearing. His hand was a deep purple.
You got a scalpel out of the med bag and cut open his sleeve. Hands trembling from the cold and barely holding onto the metal grip. Atleast you had positioned your body in such a way that Kylo wouldn't be able to see it.
The man had used a shoelace to cut off the circulation to his arm completely. Oh wasn't that great? From the colour it didn't look too good either.
"Did you think that would stop it from working?", you asked him and stepped back, "Not everything is transported via blood."
The smile on his face dropped and he started stuttering something unintelligible.
Kylo looked at you and tilted his head slightly.
"I think we can still save his arm. If you want that, but we'd need to act soon.", you told him quietly and Kylo shook his head.
You nodded and stepped back, closing your eyes to concentrate again. It was hard, you were tired and the cold did not make it any better. Standing as still as possible didn't really help you either, but you didn't want to alert either the prisoner or the Knights.
Kylo looked over to you briefly before raising his hand up to the man's head. He was confused repeating: 'no' over and over again.
Again, that fear in his face. His pathetic little face that bore the sign of the Resistance with so much pride. How satisfied they were with themselves for assisting in a 'good cause'. But that cause of theirs had only brought you pain and suffering.
The man was starting to sweat, biting down to try to stop himself from screaming. It wouldn't work. Not one of them had managed to hold up their defenses, not in front of Kylo. He'd managed to get through every. Single. One. This one would not be any different.
A grin hushed over the man's face but it was only there for a split second, you weren't even sure if you had just imagined it.
The man said something that you couldn't hear from where you were standing. In fact it was hard for you to hear anything. What you could see was Kylo's reaction to it though. He tensed up and shouted something but it was muffled. Vicrul took a step back.
Kylo turned around, igniting his lightsaber and destroyed the wall behind him. You still couldn't hear it. It pained you to see him this angry. He turned back around and once again shouted something. The prisoner's lips moved again, first saying something and then into a grin.
What had he done? Why did nothing make a proper sound anymore? There were far too many questions but the only thing that mattered to you right now was that somehow the prisoner was doing something to Kylo.
It seemed like the man was getting into Kylo's head, with every word he spoke Kylo seemed to slump down more. It wasn't very noticeable, but you knew how Kylo usually carried himself. You felt your own anger rise up. No matter how much the screams from before and the memory of your dying father had enraged you... this fueled your void far more.
You were seething with anger, hands balled into fists. Your breath condensated in the air but you weren't just trembling because of the cold. Every time the prisoner's lips moved or the slightest hint of a grin hushed over his face your void increased. Even more so as Kylo started slashing the wall again. The black hole ate up everything in its way. With every exhale you felt it increasing in size. You could feel their connection to the Force, how he influenced Kylo's...
"SHUT UP!", you screamed but it didn't make a sound. You felt his connection snap and the prisoner immediately collapsed.
Kylo turned around to Vicrul, but Vicrul was just staring at you.
You stared at the prisoner hanging lifeless in his restraints. It satisfied you. No, not just that. It made you happy. Incredibly so even. It didn't matter that he could use the Force against Kylo if you could cut his connection off. He was powerless, a small obstacle. Nothing the Supreme Leader did not have a solution against.
You stopped feeling Kylo's and Vicrul's connection and the void closed. You could hear Kylo's heavy steps on the floor as he marched over to you. Turning your head was so incredibly... slow. You felt your knees give in, but Kylo caught you before you hit the floor. He sat you down carefully and removed his glove, holding his hand against your forehead.
Vicrul poked his head over Kylo's shoulder.
"Is she dead?"
You shook your head and lifted up your hand, making an 'Ok' sign.
"You look dead.", Vicrul added.
"Get blankets.", Kylo commanded and Vicrul's head disappeared.
"I told you to not overdo it.", you couldn't tell whether or not there was more anger or worry in his voice. The modulator made it hard to hear, or your own hearing was still recovering.
"I'm fine."
Your voice was raspy as if you had been smoking your entire life.
"Did I...", you nodded over towards the prisoner.
"He's fine. You aren't.", he removed his cape and wrapped it around you.
"I think I snapped his connection.", it sounded more like a question than a statement, "I am sorry. It was accidental."
You grabbed the edges of his cape and held onto them.
"It does not matter now."
"I just got so angry.", you said quietly. He didn't reply, instead he wrapped the cape a bit tighter around you.
"Here. Blankets.", Vicrul said and handed them to him.
Kylo put them over your shivering body. You made an attempt to stand up but he just picked you up from the floor.
Vicrul threw another blanket over you and secured it.
"You are freezing! This is not normal, not even for the Dark Side."
He looked up at Kylo.
"I'm fine!", you insisted again. Yes, you were cold but it was not like you had a frost bite.
The twins were looking at each other in confusion as you left for the elevator. It didn't make sense to them, they had seen quite a few abilities the Force had but nothing like this. You couldn't blame them.
The elevator stopped far too soon for it to be already on your apartment's floor.
"No. Kylo, no. No doctor.", you pleaded quietly, "Please."
He looked down on you, his face still hidden by the black mask.
"She's really fucking cold.", Vicrul said.
You just stared up to him, hoping that he'd not get out of the elevator now. Kylo smashed the button for the higher floor with his elbow.
"Thank you.", you said quietly and leaned your head against his chest.
Vicrul shook his head but didn't directly oppose Kylo.
The doors opened but instead of all of you getting out General Hux stepped in.
"What happened to her?", he asked, genuine surprise in his voice.
"I annoyed a prisoner.", you replied, "Pissed him off as I wanted to give him a shot. Gave myself the shot instead."
"You look like you are dying, I have never seen anyone so pale!"
"Really? You don't look in the mirror?"
His face now matched the red of his hair but he didn't say anything. You wouldn't have either, but Kylo Ren was carrying you after all. You couldn't feel any more safe than you felt right now.
Finally you arrived at the medbay, and Kylo set you down carefully on the bed in the middle.
"What do you need, Doc?", he asked you and removed his mask.
"A scanner and the heated blankets from yesterday."
Vicrul handed you the scanner while Kylo got the blankets from his room.
You pointed it at yourself.
"Blablabla...low heart rate, yes I can feel that... where... ah right. There! 33,7°C body temperature.", you shrugged, "Could have been worse. It's only mild."
"It does not feel mild, it also does not feel like 33°C.", Vicrul said.
"Core. It's core temperature.", you spoke slowly, trying not to slur your speech. Kylo came back with the blankets and removed the ones Vicrul had brought earlier.
"She says it's only mild. I really don't think it's just 'mild'"
"It is! Here!", you wanted to give him the scanner but dropped it. Kylo caught it before it hit the floor and took a brief look and then handed it to Vicrul.
"Leave.", Kylo commanded and started wrapping the heated blankets around you.
Vicrul nodded and put the scanner on the desk.
"Don't die.", he said, right before the doors closed behind him.
"Never.", you grinned.
"I told you to not overdo it.", Kylo said the moment Vicrul had left. You didn't reply and just stared down at the floor.
There was silence between you two for a few minutes. You could feel him looking at you, as if he expected an answer, some sort of excuse, but you didn't have one. You already told him that you had gotten furious. It was not like he hadn't been angry either. You had merely made the prisoner collapse, he had destroyed the wall behind him.
There were quite a few similarities between you two that you did not want to admit to.
Kylo probably saw them as well, which was perhaps part of the reason he did not talk about the issue any further.
He took a deep breath and sat down on the bed next to you.
"Nevertheless, you did well."
"Thank you, Sir.", you said and turned your head towards him. He looked exhausted, not as pale as you were right now but he wasn't doing that good either.
"Did you get what you needed?"
"Yes."
You nodded, "Can I ask what it was?"
"Information on an influential Resistance sympathizer.", he didn't even hesitate to tell you.
"Their location, I suppose?"
You assumed it was fine to ask further questions.
"Connections as well. I've been hunting them down for a while."
You smiled, "That makes me incredibly happy. I did my part. And far more than just patching up stormtroopers. When I joined the First Order I never thought I'd actually play a semi-important role."
You were still speaking slowly, sorting the words in your head so they wouldn't come out weird. It'd still take a while until you were back on track.
"I guess I'll be late for work again tomorrow.", you sighed and Kylo just shook his head.
"You can quit working as a doctor if you want."
"No. No...I like it. Escyle is a bit of an ass...but Rosie is trying her best to make us get along."
"Escyle?"
"Dr. Escyle, yes. I think his brother is a Colonel, you might have heard of him?"
Kylo just made a 'mhhh' sound.
Your conversation was interrupted by your datapad.
"Incoming transmission request. Outer Rims. Sector 2-"
"Fuck. I think that's my mom."