"Ah, well don't you look lovely."
You glared at Kylo out of the corner of your eye. It was his fault that you had a fat, busted lip, a seriously swollen cheekbone, and the shadow of a black eye.
Oh, and your hair looked like rats had taken hold in there.
"Ah, yes well, us girls tend to not look our best when we're double-teamed and caged like an animal," you replied, smiling with your bloodied lip.
A sound of amusement came from underneath his mask. Your eyes suddenly locked on the objects he was carrying in his hands.
A plate with a small loaf of bread and a glass of water.
A guard had been bringing you plates of gray mush the last however-many-days, but it was disgusting and not even close to satiating your hunger. You tried to pretend like you didn't see the actual, solid food he was holding, trying to hide the fact that you were about 0.5 seconds away from lunging across the room to get a bite.
Lucky for you, you didn't need to beg for it. Instead, he let go of the plate and floated it through the air, bringing it to gently rest on the floor in front of you.
You barely restrained yourself as you calmly reached for the bread and took a bite. He clasped his hands behind his back and slowly began pacing back and forth, his mask never leaving your face as you ate your meager food.
The loaf was half gone when you blushed a bit, realizing that you were devouring your food at an animalistic pace. Turning away from him, you drained the cup of water and wiped your mouth with the back of your hand.
"Please, don't feel the need to maintain any manners," he said with a low chuckle.
"Yes, well, it's hard to eat daintily when you've gone days without actual food."
He nodded. "Yes, well, I wouldn't have had to do that if you'd been more obedient."
"You didn't have to do anything of which you did," you spat.
He stopped moving, his mask still fixed on you. "Yes, I did," he replied. "You gave me no choice."
You rolled your eyes for the millionth time, finishing the piece of bread without any care for manners.
The only sound in the room was the monotone breathing of Kylo's mask. A minute passed by without comment before Kylo spoke up and resumed his pacing.
"Well, Little One, have you come to your senses?"
You knew he was asking you again if you'd comply and train with him, turn against the Resistance. You ran a hand through your hair and dramatically hummed as if you were deep in thought.
"Yes, yes I have," you replied.
He looked at you from behind his mask.
"Oh?"
You nodded. "Yes, I've made the logical decision to refuse to train under a monster."
You smiled at him, watching him tense in frustration. "Oh, and not 'join the Dark Side'," you added, making air quotations with your hand and mocking his voice.
Kylo shook his head looking down. "That answer will change eventually."
"Keep dreaming," you scoffed.
"Oh I will."
You snapped your head to look at him. "What?"
He ignored you. "It's in your best interest, Little One, to-"
"For fucks sake stop calling me that! I'm not that little, you're just a big ass tree."
He ignored you again. "As I was saying before you interrupted," he muttered, "it is in your best interest, Little One, to join me. No one would be able to harm you or stop you under my guidance and protection."
Protection. What did that even look like? Nothing in your life reflected protection.
He strode towards you and crouched down, slowly taking off his helmet and setting it on the ground. You tried to avert your gaze but an invisible pressure forced you to look at him.
"Join me," he whispered.
Time seemed to stand still as you sat there looking at him. His gaze was practically burning you, but his hold on you wasn't letting you look away.
Your breathing grew erratic as the eye contact continued. It felt like ice cold water was flowing through your veins and yet it felt like every bone in your body was engulfed in flames.
"Don't be afraid," he said suddenly. "I feel it too."
You let the words sink in while you tried to deny what he was saying. With all your strength, you stifled the odd sensations you were feeling and narrowed your eyes at him.
"The only thing I feel for you is hatred, Supreme Leader."
If you hadn't known any better, you could've sworn that a brief look of hurt passed over his face. You didn't have time to determine if that was true, because he was already standing at his full height again, taking a step backwards.
He mindlessly fixed his gloves on his hands and brushed imaginary lint off his robes.
"We'll deal with your obstinance later," he muttered angrily. "For now, we have business to attend to on Corellia."
You scoffed. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
You took a deep breath as you noticed a feeling of exhaustion creeping up on you. Kylo laughed suddenly, and you snapped your eyes up to his.
"What's so funny?"
"You really think you can just refuse to come with me?"
You clenched your jaw. "Fuck yes I do," you replied. "I'm not going, and you can't make me."
He moved towards you again, squatting down in front of you before taking your chin in his hand. "Ah, but I can. What do you think was in that water?"
—
You were getting really tired of waking up confused in a new location.
From your initial scan of your surroundings, you noticed you were in a cell on a ship. And the ship was moving.
Corellia. Business to attend to. Drugged water.
Your memory came back to you in patches as you felt the drug-induced fog slowly clear from your mind.
Craning your neck, you took a closer look at your surroundings. It was pretty dark, only a small sliver of a window offering light from the stars outside.
Squinting, you tried to adjust to the shadows when you noticed someone in the corner.
Rolling your eyes, you cleared your throat loudly. "I'm not sure what you were taught growing up Ren, but it's creepy to watch people sleep."
You were shocked to see a nervous looking man emerge from the shadows into the patch of light in front of you.
It was the man that had told Kylo he was needed in a meeting. And even though Kylo wasn't here, he looked just as nervous.
"No-no, not Kylo," he squeaked, averting his gaze.
You tilted your head, observing him. "What's your name?"
He shifted his eyes to yours, chewing his lip as though he was refraining from telling you.
"Lieutenant Mitaka. Dopheld Mitaka."
You nodded silently, continuing to look at him. To be frank, you were enjoying how uncomfortable you were making him.
"So, does all of the First Order have a thing about watching unconscious people?"
His cheeks instantly burned bright pink and his eyes widened. "No, no, it was under order from Supreme Leader Ren."
You smiled a bit. "Meaning, he locked you in a room with a girl that could snap your neck?"
His eyes nearly popped out of his head as he swallowed nervously. Something told you that Kylo had threatened him with the same thing.
You were about to tell him to relax and that you weren't being serious when a voice crackled over a speaker.
"Landing t-2 minutes."
Relief washed over Mitaka as he realized his babysitting duties were over.
You noticed that your hands were shackled in front of you, a short chain connecting the cuffs that allowed you a limited range of motion. Pressing your back against the wall, you pushed on your heels and slowly came to your feet.
Mitaka quickly stepped towards you and placed a hand on your upper arm, guiding you up a couple metal stairs and through the door. It was such a stark contrast what you had grown used to. He was gentle, not gripping your arm hard but simply guiding you.
The two of you were nearing the center of the ship when Mitaka awkwardly cleared his throat. "Ren keeps referring to you as the girl. What is your actual name?"
You were about to answer, your heart softening at the politeness he was showing you. But before you could properly introduce yourself, Kylo came into view.
"Oh honey you're here, I was worried sick."
You heard Mitaka laugh quietly, trying to disguise it as a cough. Kylo didn't seem to find it amusing. He roughly grabbed your arm from Mitaka and you immediately missed having a gentle hold on your arm rather than Kylo holding onto you like you could float away.
He dragged you across the ship until you reached the ramp that was slowly lowering.
You were standing on his left and tried to take a peek at him from your peripherals. The mask concealed any facial expression as he stared dead ahead.
"Do you make a habit of bringing all your prisoners on your little field trips?"
"No, only the prisoners that try to light my ship on fire."
You smiled slightly, a little bit proud of the damage you'd caused his property. The smile vanished however, when the ramp was fully lowered and Kylo continued to drag you with him.
You'd never been to Corellia before, but you'd heard a lot about it growing up. Back at the base some of the pilots had told you stories about the planet, filling your mind with probably unrealistic visions of Coronet City.
Unfortunately, you were far from Coronet. You were in some desolate area, the shuttle having landed in an abandoned field on the edge of some forest.
"I would highly suggest that you don't try to escape."
You scoffed and rolled your eyes. "It's not like I'd have anywhere to go," you said, gesturing to the empty landscape.
There really was no opportunity to escape around you. The edge of the city and its civilizations weren't even in view and as athletic as you believed you were, you didn't have the ability to run miles and miles without stopping.
So really, there was no shot of escaping here.
Not unless you commandeered a tree and turned it into a speeder. You walked next to Kylo, your legs working three times as fast to keep up with him.
"So what are we doing here?"
"I don't believe it's impertinent that you know, little one."
You rolled your eyes and huffed. It must've made him pity you a bit, because he sighed loudly and answered you. "An armory," he said quietly. "The First Order is in the process of commissioning new ships."
You tried your hardest to keep your expression unreadable.
An armory. New ships.
It was bittersweet. That's the information that you'd came for, the information that was on the data chip tucked into your bra. Not that you'd be able to relay the information to the Resistance, but at least you knew where one armory was located.
According to Kylo, you were nearing the destination when you noticed what looked like a lake to your left.
You smiled a little bit. It looked so whimsical and colorful in comparison to the dull, lifeless scenery surrounding it.
But you were brought out of your little daydream when the trooper in front of you crumpled to the ground with a gaping hole in his armor.
"Fire!"
Hux screamed orders at his troops as he realized they were under attack.
Snapping your head to where the shots were coming from, you noticed masked fighters camouflaged in the trees.
So I guess someone had an issue with the new ships and armory.
"Don't do anything stupid," you heard Kylo say before he left your side.
Not that you wanted to follow his orders, but you knew he was right. You'd already come to terms with the fact that there was no place for you to go, no chance to get away.
So when you started running and dodging fire, it wasn't to escape. It was to try and avoid getting impaled by some pissed off locals.
A blaster skidded to your feet and you picked it up. It was a bit difficult to handle considering your arms were still bound, but the chain gave you enough leeway to fire your weapon.
Much to your chagrin, you took out three of the assailants with ease, saving several 'troopers in the process.
You cried out when a spear brushed your arm and slashed open your skin. Blasters fired around you as you clutched your wound and stumbled to a tree, ducking behind it for protection.
You heard rustling of leaves above you and spotted another assailant shrouded in the branches yards above your head. You swallowed thickly when you noticed an extremely large blaster pointed directly at your head. Raising your restrained arms above you, you curled your fingers inwards and brought the man to the ground with a sickening thud.
A cry rang out to the side of you. White armor was flailing in the lake you had been daydreaming about earlier. Your breath hitched when you realize it's the young man you had been forced to fight.
Over your shoulder, you saw the conflict dwindling down. The attackers were gravely outnumbered, so you weren't surprised that the First Order had gotten the upper hand rather quickly.
You couldn't ignore the sight of the 'trooper drowning. It pulled on your heartstrings despite your resistance. When he was fighting you, his eyes showed a scared little boy that didn't actually want to hurt you.
In fact, you had felt him flinch every time his partner had struck you when he had subdued you during the fight Kylo had ordered. You couldn't stop replaying the sound of him gasping when he'd seen the blood stream from your lip.
Dammit.
That obnoxious moral compass of yours got the better of you, and you took off running in the direction of the lake and the drowning soldier.
Small pebbles that made up the lakeshore flew from under your feet as you ungracefully ran towards the water with bound wrists. You quickly slid your feet out of your boots and continued running until you dove head first into the chilled water.
You cried out as the water stung your open wound and colored the clear water with crimson blood.
"Hold on!" You yelled for the boy that was clearly about to be completely submerged in the water, your heart twitching when you saw the sheer panic in his eyes.
I'm right here, hold on.
Once you reached him, you noticed a huge slash in his chest armor that was slowly allowing for it to full up with water and drag him down. He flailed his arms, struggling to keep his arms above water.
"I got you, I'm here," you said breathlessly.
Tossing the chain that connected your wrists over his head and under his arms, you pulled him onto his back and began swimming back to shore.
The clear water was foaming as you furiously kicked and struggled to carry his weight through the water. He sputtered as he choked in the water, and you did the same as he was inadvertently pushed you under the surface.
His movements were slowing and you knew you didn't have much time to get him to shore. Solid land was in view, a dozen feet away. But the exhaustion was creeping up on you. And so was the excruciating pain in your arm.
Right on cue, you saw two troopers appear on the shore.
"Get a medic or something!"
Your mouth filled with water as you yelled the order to the soldiers. The irony wasn't lost on you as you realized a Resistance fighter turned prisoner was giving orders two members of the First Order. But the 'troopers complied.
Finally, your skin scratched against the rocks and you dragged the waterlogged man off of you and out of the water.
"Get the armor off and start CPR," you ordered to the troopers that were dragging the boy onto flatter land.
"What the-"
You heard Hux's shrill voice as you rolled onto your side and coughed up the water that was filling your lungs.
Mixing with the blood flowing from you, the water created a bright red puddle underneath you. Dwindling blaster fire, heavy stomps, the obnoxious voice of Hux, and the unmistakable robotic breathing filled your senses as you could slowly feel your consciousness retreating.
Kylo quickly walked towards your splayed body as Hux stood there, mouth open like a dumbfounded fish as he tried to comprehend what just happened.
The black mass crouched next to you. Despite your exhaustion, overwhelming pain, and labored breathing, you looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Hey, I didn't try to escape so you can't be mad."
It could've been your delirium, but you swore you heard a low chuckle from beneath the mask. The laugh, however, quickly faded as you continued to cough up water and your eyes became extremely heavy.
You couldn't even enjoy your witty comment before you could feel your consciousness receding. And strong, black clad arms picking you up.