"Rey..."

She could hear his voice in her ear.

"Rey..."

It was hoarse, and deep. It pleaded for her. She thought she could feel his breath on her neck. He was close.

"Ben?"

"REY!"

Finn's voice boomed into her consciousness and Rey ripped her eyes open. The world seemed heavy and loud. Finn was hovering over her, a blurry picture of worry.

She groaned some sort of response.

Finn's face unfurled in relief. "Rey! You're alright!"

Rose appeared in beside him, nervous about something that Rey couldn't see.

"We've got to get out of here!" Rose's voice strained from the stress. "He could attack us!"

Finn grabbed Rey's shoulder and hoisted her up. Around them was burning metal and jungle.

The three of them had been sent on a mission to Akiva to find the former Resistance pilot Norra Wexley. After Finn and Rose's debacle at Canto Bight and the Resistance's limited number of resources, General Organa decided it was best to send a skilled pilot who could at least try to keep one of their precious ships out of trouble. She was still furious enough at Poe for his little coup on the Raddus to keep him grounded, so Rey was sent along instead.

It was a happy distraction for Rey. Things had calmed down as the minimal Resistance forces hid themselves in the swamps of Dagobah for the past few months. But for Rey that meant contemplative moments, and when she began to think, the Force tended to connect her and Kylo Ren. Her heart stung at the thought of his last few words to her on the Supremacy. As a result, she was gaining a reputation for having a nasty temper, all thanks to all her violent attempts to close the link. This mission would keep her blessedly busy for a few days.

But things had gone wrong from the moment they descended towards Akiva. First Order ships had appeared above them and in her panic, Rey had connected with Ben for a split second as she yelled out to Finn. She saw his look of surprise and heard him order someone unseen to ready his ship. The moment ended, and a few minutes later, his TIE Silencer was chasing after them.

She tried to push the small transport ship deep into the narrow valleys of the planet's jungles, but a sharp turn resulted in the ship hitting rock and ricocheting against the cliffs until they'd ended up crashing. All three had been ejected from the cockpit. The Silencer had made the same mistake and struck them as the Resistance ship bounced between the rocks. It crashed just ahead of them. And now Rey watched the newly appointed Supreme Leader of the First Order exit his ship as Rose and Finn tried to move her to safety.

"He's seen us!" Rey tried to warn her friends, but it only came out as panicked groan. She realized then that the side of her face was wet with blood. She had to shake off the haze the crash had left her in before he attacked them. Finn and Rose could never take him down alone.

"Stop."

His voice rang out deep and clear. Rey felt Finn's body go tense with terror. Rose whipped her head around to look.

"RUN!"

They did not make it very far before Kylo Ren's hand flew up and threw Finn and Rose away from Rey. She fell to the ground and heard the two grunt as their bodies made contact with the nearest trees. The impact returned her to clarity and Rey picked herself up to face him.

"Don't you dare hurt them," She screamed.

"Why shouldn't I?" He responded with a growl. "They're Rebel scum."

"I'm Rebel scum!"

His face grew troubled at the remark, no doubt he viewed her differently. Finn rushed out to tackle his former commander. Kylo Ren whipped up his arm as if it were nothing, and Finn found himself, unable to move any further. Rey heard Rose gasp behind her.

"Put him down, now!"

He glared at her and tightened his outstretched fingers. Finn began to choke. Rose screamed and dashed towards Finn.

"No!" Rey caught the woman and struggled to keep her from running towards Finn. Or worse, towards Kylo. She had to think of some way to stop him. Her light saber was still broken and she was not strong enough to counter his Force Hold.

"If you don't put him down, I'll-I'll..."

"You'll what?"

Think, Rey, think. She screamed at herself. Rose broke free from her grasp and lunged toward Finn.

"IF YOU HURT MY FRIENDS, I'LL KILL MYSELF!"

Finn dropped from the Force Hold and hit the ground gasping. Rose turned at Rey in shock, but then turned back to Finn.

Rey held Kylo Ren's startled stare. She could barely believe she said that. Kill herself? If the situation wasn't so desperate, she'd never consider it. She watched his body relax and he moved his hand down to his hilt. He must have realized it was a bluff, but did not care to test her mettle.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you think, you murderer!" Rose screamed. Kylo shifted forward as if to attack again.

"Don't." Rey pleaded. She was desperate. "We don't have to fight."

Finn scrambled up and stepped behind her, pulling along Rose by the hand. He looked at Kylo Ren, then back at Rey.

"Rey, we have to get out of here," he hissed nervously at her.

"Finn, I-"

"He's going to kill us!"

Rey gulped. "He won't kill me."

Finn grabbed her shoulder. "Rey, I know you want to believe that, but he came after us himself! You know what happened to Luke when Kylo Ren came after him!"

"Take Rose and get out of here," Rey said firmly.

"Rey!"

"GO!"

What happened to Master Luke was more the result of the old Jedi projecting himself from Ahch-To to Crait than his nephew's rage-fueled attack. But since Rey could not hide behind such tricks, she was counting on the fact that the Supreme Leader cared about her. She held his gaze, betting her life against him was her most powerful weapon at the moment.

She saw Finn look cautiously between them, and then felt his grip on her arm loosen as he ran toward the ship with Rose in tow. He hadn't believed her when she told him about Kylo Ren killing Snoke to protect her, or how they'd defeated Snoke's guards together. And was particularly incredulous to hear about how their enemy had offered her his hand, wanting her to join his side. She didn't blame Finn. She could hardly believe the words that came out of her mouth, except that she knew her connection with Kylo Ren was truer than anything else she'd ever felt.

"You'd throw your life on the line for these fools?"

"They're my friends," Rey snapped.

"FN-2187 is a traitor and a coward."

"Finn has saved me countless times."

Kylo Ren huffed out a laugh. "Is that what he calls himself? Pathetic."

"You're one to talk, Ben." Rey hoped that would distract him long enough for her to think of a way to get back to the ship and off this planet.

"Ben Solo is dead," he replied calmly.

Finn burst out of the ship. "Rey! I can't get the ship to work!"

Dammit.

With that, Kylo began to stride toward her.

"I'll be happy to offer you a ride to the Finalizer. As my prisoners."

Rey closed her eyes. She still felt woozy from the crash and couldn't quite think fast enough. But maybe...

She took a step towards Kylo Ren and held out her wrists. "I'll let you take me if you leave Finn and Rose alone."

He paused at the sight of her hands stretched out towards him, breaking her gaze to look down at them.

"Rey, no!" Finn cried out. Rey heard him dash towards her, but was stopped by something Rose whispered that she couldn't quite make out.

"And let them escape execution for their crimes again? I think not." He huffed, more indignantly this time.

"Finn isn't a mechanic. He doesn't even know what a Harris wrench is."

This had better work. It was truly all she could think of.

"And Rose is just a medic! They won't be able to fix that ship without me."

Rey looked down, hoping she looked believably guilty and vulnerable. "They probably won't be able to get out of this jungle alive."

"Fine." He relented, and closed the distance between them. Kylo Ren grabbed her forearm roughly and pulled her toward him.

"Only for you." It was whispered so quietly that Rey wasn't sure he'd actually spoken. Her heart began to twinge in her chest, and she realized it had been pounding at full speed since she'd seen him step down from his ship.

He pulled her along with little care for the fact that she had to scramble to keep up with his pace.
His sleek TIE fighter was now scratched on every surface. Its pointed wings were bent wildly out of shape. It would be a bumpy ride back to the First Order cruiser, but it looked more functional than their sorry transport ship. She hoped Rose could fix the thing well enough to get them some place safe before General Hux sent Storm Troopers after them.

He led her on board and pushed her into the copilot's seat. Rey tried to relax. Her enemy was distracted by the workings of his ship and not with killing her friends. He had kidnapped her before and she had survived. Hell, she had thrown herself into straight his clutches just to see if she could bring him back to the Light and survived. It was likely that she would be tortured for the new location of the Resistance, but she could survive this too and meet her friends back on Dagobah...

Kylo Ren's fist came down so hard on the dashboard that Rey yelped and jumped out of her seat. He roared in frustration and launched a closed fist into the panel itself, sending sparks everywhere.

Rey grabbed his other arm before he electrocuted himself. "What are you doing!?"

"It won't fly."