Disclaimer: Not mine, in any way, shape, or form. Not making money from this.

Author's Note: So. This will get spicier. I promise. This is Artificial Intelligence's fault: AI, I point the blame squarely at you.

…:::...

Toska

Chapter 1

…:::...

Rey's thighs burned, and her fingers threatened to let go as she struggled to pull the unconscious form toward her ship.

She thought of it as her ship now that she was the only one left to pilot it off the planet.

She should have just made the last minute repair and taken off, minutes behind Chewie and Finn in the emergency med transport. Or left the ship there entirely. She could be safe right now, jumping into hyperspace and speeding away from the rock that was currently shaking to pieces beneath her.

With a loud, primal growl, she tugged with renewed force at the black tunic she had fisted in her hands and the body it was covering moved another few inches through the snow.

She shouldn't be saving this man.

Stopping to pant, sweating despite the chill in the snowy air, Rey wiped at her mouth, shook out her hands, and bent to take a firmer hold of Kylo Ren.

Tired and losing patience, she gave too violent a heave. Her world tilted and she slipped sideways, her feet slipping on a rock camouflaged under the snow beneath her. She slammed down heavily on the ground, pain sparking through her elbow where she caught herself before her head hit the hard earth. A frustrated scream ripped from her and she kicked fiercely at the body that was delaying her escape.

He's not worth it, he's not worth it, he's not worth it-

Standing, Rey wiped her hands on her tunic and resumed her task.

…:::...

She left him in a heap on the grated floor, just far enough inside the Falcon that she was able to close the doors. Sprinting to the cockpit, she began frantically punching buttons, throwing switches, and praying that her new prisoner didn't wake up during take off.

Or, she amended, any time before she was able to tie him up in what passed for a med bay on this ship.

She watched the screens and lights on the panels in front of her as she fought with the controls, swearing fairly impressively in several languages. She could tell the planet behind her was breaking up, its core temperature rising to the point of a star-if she could trust the read-outs, which she wasn't sure she could, since a growing list of a dozen or so things were obviously wrong with the ship after the less-than-stellar crash landing just hours before.

The hyperdrive refused to engage, and after rushing back and forth between different parts of the engine, the cockpit, and the repair bay for the better part of an hour as they drifted in space, Rey finally slid down the gentle curve of the wall next to the still-breathing form of Kylo Ren, almost certain she'd done enough to keep them flying for long enough to eat something and maybe even get some sleep. She'd picked a planet nearby that they could head toward, slowly, without the use of the hyperdrive. Rey closed her eyes and sent a plea out to the stars that she'd be able to trade something in the cargo hold for the parts she needed to get the Falcon repaired once they landed there.

In several weeks time.

Everyone would assume she was dead.

Rey sighed, frowning. She'd have to work on the coms at some point. Try to get a message out. She'd had to strip some of the wiring to use as a patch during a particularly tense few minutes soon after take off when the oxygenation system had threatened to sabotage her survival plans.

Opening her eyes, Rey groaned as she leaned forward and pushed torn black fabric away from Kylo's face. The burned slash she'd left across it looked horrible. Caked with dirt, it was probably going to get infected if it wasn't washed out soon, and would definitely leave a scar, and yep, Rey was too exhausted to care. Hell, the man wore a mask most of the time anyway as an intimidation tactic. She'd just supplied him with a much better reason to maintain the habit.

Rey continued to stare in his direction without really seeing him as she mentally reviewed what should come next.

Food? At some point before she slept. Or after. She'd gone hungry before and knew this time wasn't going to be the worst in terms of length of time between meals.

Getting cleaned up? Priority. Scrapes and superficial burns stung all over her body, and her back and neck were screaming at her. There had to be some good painkillers on this ship that she could take and knock herself out with…

After tying her prisoner down. That would have to come first. She couldn't risk falling asleep with him free.

Trying to talk herself into believing this was just another haul of heavy parts from a successful salvage run back on Jakku, Rey pushed herself to her feet, sighed, and began to drag Kylo Ren toward the med bay.

…:::...

Rey was still inspecting the dark bruise that wrapped around her torso when Kylo regained consciousness. She heard his low groan behind her and froze for a half second before returning to her examination, refusing to look in his direction. She was confident in how she'd secured him to the exam table, and he didn't deserve to be acknowledged yet.

A single thought and dozens of potential answers swirled in her mind. Why had she saved him? For information, to use as a hostage, leverage, a prize, for instruction, revenge, justice, Leia, Han-

"Release me." The order was growled with authority and malice.

Rey twisted to dab ointment on the last of her scrapes she could reach, on the curve where her back joined her hip. She'd stripped down to her loose pants, and unwound the majority of her torso wrap. Still denying him eye contact, Rey bent to pick up her tunic and the rest of her previously shed clothing, and walked out of the room, tossing a cold, "No," over her shoulder as she left.

…:::...

After several hours of sleep and a meal consisting purely of food that could be eaten straight out of the package without requiring other preparation, Rey returned to the med bay. Her prisoner was exactly where she'd left him, a livid expression on his face. Pausing in the doorway, Rey leaned against the supports, regarding him carefully from the distance. The mix of metal restraints, thick straps, and heavy rope might have seemed excessive to some, but Rey was unwilling to take any chances with him.

Her muscles hummed, on high alert. She waited, wondering if he'd speak to her. Demand his freedom again.

Silence, and a continued stormy expression was all she received from the man on the med table.

"I haven't decided exactly what I want to do with you yet," she said finally. "But almost every one of my options works best if you don't die of sepsis on this ship in the next seventy-two hours." She took a single, ginger step into the room, somehow managing to retain an air of control and lack of fear. "Your face is… unfortunate… but that wound in your side is what might kill you."

No response.

Rey moved toward the cabinets that held the medical supplies. "If you want to live, you're going to stay still while I-"

Her words died in her throat, choked off by an unseen hand. She struggled, unable to gasp for air for several seconds. In her mind, she scrambled for a grip on something, purchase on a slippery surface, liquid that couldn't be grasped, until finally she screwed her eyes shut. Bearing down, she shoved as hard as she could in all directions. The pressure at her throat disappeared, and air flooded into her lungs as everything in the room not bolted down rattled. A few bottles and taller tubes tipped over, and one clattered to the ground, smashing into shards.

Rey turned and looked at Kylo, frowning. "Your choice." Without a backward glance, she left.

…:::...

"It's been several hours," Rey pointed out, sitting cross-legged in the hallway outside the med bay. "I've fixed one of the laser cannons and started work on the subspace radio already. Pretty productive, if I do say so myself. What have you been up to?" She paused, as if expecting a reply, which she did not. "Nothing? Huh. Well, I suppose you've been awfully busy lately, what with the torture, kidnapping, and mass genocide. I'm sure you feel you deserve a bit of a rest." Rey rolled her head in the direction of her prisoner, eyeing him through the doorway. "Feel up to a bit of medical treatment yet?" she asked, one eyebrow arched. When she didn't get a response, she stood and walked into the room.

A heavy box of supplies shot toward her, and she ducked, reflexively pulling the lightsaber hilt she'd kept attached to her belt into her hand. The next three objects came at her in quick succession from around the room, flying off of shelves and countertops. Each one was blocked with the blade, creating small showers of chemicals and glass as they were cleaved in half.

"Those are the medical supplies you're going to need if you want to survive!" Rey pointed out, backing toward the exit, saber still held at the ready in front of her. "Are you going to continue to throw a fit? Or are you going to let me in to help you?" she asked.

Kylo Ren struggled and surged against his restraints, his face red with the effort. A grunt seemed to tear itself from him, but he didn't answer the question.

"Maybe later, then," Rey said harshly, turning to leave.

Halfway down the hallway her steps faltered slightly, and she paused, her breath catching as a furious howl of rage erupted from the room she'd left, accompanied by the sound of smashing glass and the crash of heavy objects hitting the floor.

As abruptly as the noise began, it died, leaving Rey listening only to the consistent hum of the Falcon's engines.

…:::...

TBC.