He had never seen her before. The girl. THE girl. The one that had alluded the First Order for nearly a year. The one that had caused him so many sleepless nights. The one whose name he's cursed so many times when they had arrived at a location only to find her gone. Not to mention what she has done to Kylo Ren.

She managed to turn him into a sniveling, weak, child. Not that he wasn't pathetic before. But she has made it that much more visible. The Supreme Leader was unimpressed with how Ren had begged her to join him. And Kylo Ren had been severely punished for his desperation.

Now, looking at her he wasn't quite sure what to make of her. She was pretty, not enough to draw much undue attention. She was far too thin, he decided, but those eyes burned with menace, and that gaze bore into him.

In fact, even now as she glared up at him, her wrists in tight binders, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was the one who should be afraid. She hadn't said a word since she had been brought on board. She had simply sat there, her eyes closed and her breathing even. It wasn't until he had moved from the doorway to stand directly in front of her that she opened her eyes and looked up.

"Comfortable?" The question was stupid. He felt stupid. He wasn't quite sure what else to say, but he felt the need to say something. Anything to break the awkward tension. But something about her hazel eyes left him feeling at a loss for words.

She huffed, rolling her eyes and turned her head to the side to stare at the wall.

He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying something he would regret. It was then he noticed the shiver. She kept so still he barely noticed it but then when he examined her, he saw the goosebumps and the almost indiscriminate movement as she tried to hide her shaking. He did the only sensible thing he could possibly do, and that was to unbutton his own crisp black overcoat and gently drape it over her shoulders.

"You will not touch her." Kylo Ren's voice came from directly behind him. The modulator always made him sound more imposing than he deserved.

The General snapped his head around to see Ren standing in the doorway, "I was merely making the pris- our guest more comfortable." He could almost see the sneer under the mask.

Kylo Ren said nothing else for the remainder of their short flight back to the Finalizer. He stood silently in the doorway examining the girl. His gaze never left her. All the while she refused to acknowledge Ren or the General.

But the General noted that she did not shrug off his coat. And even so, after a few moments, she seemed to settle into it, accepting the warmth.

The General felt the cold space air around him, but for some reason, this time, it didn't bother him like it usually did.

The tractor beam gently pulled in the cruiser to the docking bay as the automatic landing gear deployed. The landing was particularly smooth in the small cruiser which set down with an almost imperceptible jostle.

It was then that the General realized someone was speaking to him and he hadn't heard.

"Sir?" The officer repeated.

The General looked up, "Yes Kanis?"

"Would you like the prisoner taking to the holding block or-"

"No," the General waved his hand dismissively as he stood, "have her brought to the interrogation room. But," He turned to look at her, he could almost smell her fear. "please make her comfortable."

"Binders?" Captain Kanis asked with apprehension. The captain glanced from the prisoner, Rey, back to the General. All of his men were wary of the girl. They'd no doubt heard a great deal about her. He wondered how much of it was true and how much of it is was rumors. The men hadn't seen Kylo Ren's face, or maybe the two stormtroopers that were with the General the night of the destruction of Star Killer base have told others what the girl had done to Ren's face, not to mention his ego.

The General took a moment to stand and stretch, then turned his attention back to the captain. "I think binders are appropriate in this case. However, they ought to be the padded ones. And the specialty binders we discussed earlier."

Captain Kanis nodded, retrieving the specialty binders from his utility pouch and took a step towards the girl. She stiffened, and the General worried for a moment that she would put up a fight. But she then lifted her wrists allowing the Captain to fashion another set of binders over her already bound arms. These binders though, the General reminded himself are much more durable and are made special for those who are force sensitive. Something about the alloy inside them that reacts to the Force, that strange mystic energy Kylo Ren is always rambling on about. Even the Supreme leader believes in this ancient power. The General doesn't give a damn as long as the binders hold when the girl starts to fight. And he is sure she will fight.

He noticed as an afterthought that the girl was still wearing his coat.

The hallways of the First Order ship known as the Finalizer were well lit even if the interior colors were all shiny gray plastetic. The General's shoes made sharp clicking noises as he led the procession down to the small interrogation room, the more comfortable one. Why they had a comfortable interrogation room was beyond many of the Stormtrooper's understanding. They have it to provide a false sense of security.

Kylo Ren was not far behind. He loomed in the background, still not speaking, unusual for the man who used to have snide comments and loathsome remarks to every word that left the General's lips. Now he is simply a phantom, but the General is not that stupid. He could tell the two of them. Ren and the girl, they were communicating in some way.

Whether through their body language or perhaps, he thought laughably, through some psychic connection. The General could smell fear; he was born into fear, he knows the stench. They both radiate it now. But also, there is a feeling of peace and calm about each of them that the General cannot quite explain.

Then he felt that ghostly brush against his mind. The signature was unmistakable. It was the girl. She was trying to speak with him now. If he would only let her in. But he knows better; he wouldn't be fooled by her pathetic attempts to entreat him for her life. He doesn't have the authority to take her life anyway. That was for the Supreme Leader to decide.

Please, I need to tell you something.

The General brushed her ghostly touch away with the running of his fingers through his hair. And he felt the word more than heard it.

Soft.

How did she? She must be so much more powerful than he realized to be strong enough to reach out to him with her mind even while wearing the binders. And all that effort must take its toll. He'd seen those same binders around Ren's wrists, and he shuddered to think of how weak Ren looked in them. He pretended that the feelings didn't perturb him as he gestured to the interrogation seat in the center of the room. The chair was more of a standing platform with a back, lined with thick black straps and metal. It looked like a torture chamber.

The General reached out, gliding his coat off of the girl's shoulders and folded it over his arm. He couldn't help but wonder if his coat would smell like her. And if it did, what she might smell like. But then, he realized, somehow she had heard his thoughts, and he felt his face turning crimson and Ren's gaze falling on him. He brushed it all away. He is a General, and he commands respect.

"Please," he nodded at the girl and then turned his head towards the chair. She glared at him as she quietly moved toward the chair and just when she was about to seat herself she turned to the General, lunging her arms and baring her teeth.

If it were not for the reinforced binders, the General was fairly certain that she would have used her force powers to immobilize him. But he is not just a General; he is also a soldier. He moved, darting out of the way with ease and dropping his coat in the same motion. He then grabbed her arm and spinning her back against him using her own momentum. With her back up against him, he found that she wasn't as skinny as he had first thought. Perhaps she was all just lean muscle.

He also found that he stands at least a full head taller than her as he leaned in close, whispering in her ear, "We can do this the easy way. Or the unpleasant way. Which would you prefer my dear?"

She stiffened against him, almost a dead weight. At that moment he felt Ren take a half-step in their direction and then stop. The useless oaf.

The General moved his free hand underneath her chin, tipping her up and to the left so he can see her face.

"Well?"

If looks could kill, he supposed he would be already lying dead on the floor in a slow pooling puddle of his own blood. But her looks can't kill. Not with those binders on. He wondered if she's realized the full magnitude of her situation yet.

"I won't tell you anything," she grinded out, baring her teeth at him again. Rather like a feral cat. Of course, the General was used to cats. He knows how to win their affection. He felt his lips quirk up in an unexpected smirk and can't help but laugh.

The sound was so foreign to him he's almost surprised it came out of his body. The girl was surprised too, but for some reason, the laugh, almost a boyish one, sets her at ease and she seemed to loosen.

"I'm not going to ask you anything. . ." he smiled as he gazed down at her. "yet." Her almond-shaped eyes were a beautiful hazel, and the speckled green was almost glowing. He shook his head. At least it explained a little bit about how she already exercised such influence over Ren. Just being near her was enough to change the atmosphere. Or rather, to charge it.

He pulled her toward the chair and then, without any warning, he scooped her up and into his arms and placed her on the heavy metal platform. He bent over her, securing the straps on her legs and then detaching the binders, so they lock into place on the board. She still wore the specialty binders; those wouldn't be coming off at all during her stay on the Finalizer. The General rechecked the straps once more to ensure they were locked tight.

He could feel the seething form of Kylo Ren behind him. His voice is mangled by the sound of the modulator, "I think you can go now General."

"Oh? Do you think now Ren?" The insult was childish, but at that point, the General really didn't care.

It was then that the doors slid open and in glided the form of one of Kylo Ren's knights, Siorsha Ren. She was clothed all in black with her mask in place, no artificial voice modulator though, she did not need one to make her voice sound intimidating.

"The Supreme Leader has requested to speak with you, Lord Ren." She paused, and then turned to the General, "And he requests that the General stay to observe our guest. She is not to leave the General's side. She is also to be placed in the extra quarters connected to the General's suite as per the Supreme Leader's request."

He could feel the rage emanating off of Kylo Ren as he looked at the General and barked, "You will not touch her again." He then storms out of the interrogation room without another word.

Siorsha Ren inclined her head, "General, would you like me to take our guest to your suite or were you in the process of beginning an interrogation?"

The General hesitated, for only a moment. Then scooped his coat from the floor and made a show of dusting it off.

"I think she can sit for awhile." He waved a hand at the Stormtroopers and Siorsha Ren, "I will comm you when I believe we are through. Then I will have you escort the guest to her quarters. For now, I will just have the sentry at the door. And Siorsha, See to it that Lord Ren is kept busy."

He smiled to himself as Siorsha Ren, and the Stormtroopers made their way out the room.

"Well?" He said as he leaned against the interrogation chair, his face close hers. He could see her bristle again. He was slightly embarrassed by how much he enjoyed watching her squirm.

He cocked an eyebrow up, "Well? What was it you wanted to tell me?"