A/N: I haven't written a fic in, like, 3…4 years? Still rusty, but this has been in the works in my head for some time now and I wanted to get it out before I explode. Enjoy!
Sparks flew as contrasting blades of energy clashed in a flurry of adrenalin. A dark figure lunged, a stark silhouette against the metal of the First Order hangar. Kylo Ren was enraged, not an uncommon occurrence. The fresh new scar across his face burned in proximity of the clashing of blades. He had the upper hand against the desert scavenger, who had grown in her talents considerably since their last meeting.
Red and blue flashed across their faces in a volley of strikes against each other, each block and interaction more frantic than the last. He roared as he attacked, and she dodged with little effort.
"Desert whore!" he screamed, striking her blue blade, slightly singing the shoulder off her new vest. He hated it, he hated how much she fascinated him. Since Starkiller Base, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. A connection from him to her, as if his life depended on it. He din't want to depend on her, but he did. He hated her calm face, hated the way her hips swayed as they fought, he hated her.
She blocked him, sending back a couple steps, dark locks sticking to his cheek and forehead.
"Not much coming from a traitor and a coward!" she retorted with a smirk, holding up the lightsaber of a Jedi turned Sith long dead. His lightsaber, Kylo thought. My lightsaber.
Before another round of dueling could start, the walls of the hangar shook, and the equipment around them rattled with a low boom. Confusion touched their faces, as they realized the Finalizer was beginning its violent descent down to the planet below.
The alarm sounded, a mechanical wailing piercing the electric air.
The ship began to tip to one side, forcing both to grip onto anything to avoid the perilous vacuum of space. crates and tools plummeted through the opening, falling almost gracefully away from the ship.
Rey was succeeding much more than Ren in her efforts, making her may slowly across the hangar to a TIE fighter, holding onto the sparse gratings in the obsidian floor.
"This is your fault!" he roared! "If you hadn't sabotaged my ship, we wouldn't-"
Another explosion halted the words in his throat, jolting him away from his handhold. Looking away from her, his eyes widened. He was beginning to slip towards the open airlock. This was it, the end. A pitiful death, he thought. What a shame. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his. Shocked, he turned to see Rey halting his fall, one hand on his wrist, one on a nearby grate.
"Come on!" she yelled, with her slight accent, arms shaking slightly from the strain. "Don't make me do all the work!"
Understanding her, he reached up and grabbed her arm with his other hand, pulling himself up to hold onto the grate.
"So what now?" he asked, extremely confused, feeling more and more like a lost child with every second.
"We get in that TIE fighter and get off this thing," she said with a gleam in her eye, gesturing toward the ship behind her.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing together in puzzlement. "We…we're enemies. Why would you help me?"
"Be-because it's the right thing to do," she said looking him straight in the eye. For a moment, he believed her. those hazel eyes, cheeks flushed from battle, it was a sight he was never expecting to find beautiful.
"You need a pilot," he said, attempting to regain his composure and unmask her true intensions.
"No I don't!" she laughed, tossing her head back with a grin. She finished with a smirk,"I just need a prisoner."
Ren's faint smile faded as he too chuckled. Wordlessly, they made their way to the TIE fighter that was barely hanging on to its docking mechanism. More and more crates and equipment flew past them, and they had to dodge and flatten against the floor to escape a hit. A stray stormtrooper went flying past as the alarm blared even louder than before.
They ignore the loss of life and kept going, and were finally within reach of the TIE fighter. They stood on its side and boarded the small vessel. Rey took the pilot's position, and Ren took the gunner seat. They strapped in, the belts and hooks digging into their sides.
As Rey began to start up the engines, they were silent amongst the chaos. A hangar door flew open, and a familiar ginger haired general appeared, holding onto the frame of the door. His face turned from its constant slight scowl into full on rage. The stormtroopers that companied him opened fire on the fighter as Rey struggled to release it from the dock.
"You okay back there?" She asked above the noise, turning her head slightly behind her.
"Couldn't be better," he said sarcastically. Finally, the engines roared with a screech and they were free. Blasts flew past them as she maneuvered towards the open hangar. As they left the ship, Kylo smirked as he saw the face of Hux, and slowly lifted a middle finger and waved goodbye. Why was he happy? He was a prisoner of war.
In silence, they made their way through empty space. Rey recognized the planet below, Jakku.
"We were orbiting Jakku?" she asked her prisoner. He did not respond. "We were in a different system when I boarded, you must have jumped to hyperspace without me realizing it."
"Thank you," he said quietly.
Rey sat holding the joysticks, frozen. Had he just said that?
"Thanks for helping me," he said even quieter, looking at his trembling hands.
"You're welcome," she replied tenderly, slightly confused but also honored. The man most feared in the galaxy just thanked her.
Breaking the silence, a beeping noise arose, and something was wrong.
"Take that back, I haven't saved you yet," she said over the noises.
They were crashing.