Author's Note-

Hello! Welcome to my The Force Awakens fanfiction. For those of you who have read my previous Star Wars fanfic, Fall of The Jedi Order, I am terribly sorry for your wait. I had been writing it with a friend, and we had a bit of a falling out. Since then we've made up, but for now, it seems that story is to remain in a long-term hiatus. Terribly sorry once again! I promise not to let that happen here, and hopefully me and him will be picking that story back up eventually.

Now! Onto a few notes. This story starts in the interrogation scene, however after that expect some major canon divergency. The Resistance doesn't know the location of Starkiller Base, and therefore can't rescue Rey. And likewise, the First Order doesn't know the location of the Resistance, so they are safe- for now.

Anyways, hope you enjoy the story!

Much love,

112

-Rey-

The scavenger's head swam and numbed and thawed all at once as she tried to appear asleep. She was harnessed, bound to some kind of machine, of that she was certain. And, somehow, she could almost sense another's presence in… Wherever she was. A dark presence, a mesh of anger, a ball of hatred, of unrefined, uncontrolled rage. Unable to feign sleep any longer, she opened her eyes.

And their he was. Kylo Ren. The creature that stalked her in the woods, that hunted her from Jakku, that had brought her here. She was alone with him in a small room, dark, and uniform, and grey. In the few silent moments that had crept by, a sense of claustrophobia had come crushing down upon her. She suddenly grew extremely aware of the monster before her's eyes- if it even had eyes beneath that mask- staring directly at her.

After a few more moments, moments that crept on for hours, Rey spoke, unable to remain quiet any longer. "Where am I?" Her voice was choked, but she was silently proud that the words came out at all.

"You're my guest." The words that came from the dark figure before her were robotic and gnarled by the mask, adding to the intimidation that seemed to define his mere presence. She hard felt terror, real terror, in the woods when he had appeared, and now the same nauseating feeling made itself into her heart. Before Rey could speak, Ren stood, and extended his gloved hand towards her. At first, Rey expected his fist to strike her, but instead, she felt a much more intense pain, a much more personal pain, as if her skull was crushing down upon her brain, like some dull blade pierced into her.

It's him. It's the Force. He wants the map to Skywal-

Rey's thoughts were cut short by Kylo Ren's voice. "You're afraid."

"That is what happens when you're hunted by a creature in a mask." She bit out, the pain behind her eyes growing with each passing second. But suddenly, the dark phantom before her dropped his hand, and the pain dissapeared in a instant, and she very nearly lost her vision for a moment from the sudden change. His gloved hands rose and, to Rey's immense surprise, he removed his mask, revealing not some twisted and gnarled figure, or grisly alien, but… A man. One with as fair a skin as her, albeit much paler, and dark, but very much human eyes. Onyx black hair fell down to his shoulders, and his handsome face stared back at her, his pale, thin lips a had line above his firm jaw.

Rey hard trouble stopping herself from saying 'Oh'.

She must have released some expression of surprise because, just as Ren placed his mask upon the stand besides him, he scowled deeply, twisting his boyish, handsome face into a furrowed, angry cover.

"Why am I here?" She asked, then immediately questioned why she had asked that, when she knew very well why the First Order wanted her.

"We know you have seen the map," Ren began, his voice much softer, much less intimidating without the mask, "To Skywalker. We have the rest, taken from the ruins of the Empire, and now, you will give it to the First Order. The droid alluded us, but somehow, you convinced it to give you it's information. You, a scavenger." He spit out the last words, and Rey felt her heart twist.

Once more, she felt herself be reminded that she was just a scavenger. Then, just as the thought entered her mind, it left, and defiance took it's place.

"I'll never give you it." She said venomously, and Ren scowled deeper at her. He leaned in closer, and his breath, angry and hot, wafted through the air.

"I will take what I want." He leaned back, and once more lifted his gloved hand towards her. The intense probing of her mind began again, and she felt her head slam against the back of the apparatus she was bound to. Her brain felt raw, and she fought back tears. Life on Jakku hard been tough, and survival itself was a struggle, but never had she felt such immense pain in her life. The man before her, only a few years her senior, thirty at most, showed no sign of remorse for what he was doing. In fact, somehow, in the back of her mind, she could sense he was enjoying it.

Suddenly, a vision, an ocean, and an island, and… Someone, someone important, she could sense, came into view, seemingly as real as her captor.

"Don't be afraid." Kylo Ren said, his smooth voice almost comforting. He nodded ever so slightly. "I feel it too."

She tried desperately to resist, to fight his piercing, but to no avail. Her friends were counting on her, the Resistance itself was depending on her strength, but she could not resist the power of the man before her.

Suddenly, the piercing, searing pain in her head ebbed slightly, and Kylo Ren spoke once more, his voice softer this time, and much quieter. "You're so lonely." Rey focused her vision on his eyes, and behind the storm that raged, and behind the anger, she saw empathy. Loneliness that matched her own. And, for a brief second, she saw regret. "You dream of an end. A sleep that lasts forever. An ocean." Suddenly, the softness of his voice died, replaced by a hard, passionate tone, and the pain soared to new heights as Rey barely fought back a scream. "And an island. Yes, I see him. And you imagine Han Solo," He practically spat out the name, "As the father you never had. He would have dissapointed you." He spoke the last words matter of factly, almost tauntingly.

Suddenly, Rey felt something rise up inside, her, and she felt herself becoming somehow connected to Kylo Ren, as if she somehow had access into his mind, just as he had access to hers. She gritted her teeth angrily, and fought to lean forward, away from where she was bound.

She reached foward with the Force, and saw into his mind. She didn't feel a torrent of rage, or a cold, calculating swath of power, but only… Sadness. And more than anything else, inadequacy. Fear that he would never live up to… Darth Vader?

"You're afraid." She said, trying to sound sure of herself, confident and strong, when really, she was confused. "Afraid you will be never be as strong as Darth Vader!" She bit out, and Kylo Ren nearly fell back, his hand dropping to his side as Rey leaned back, her mind no longer probed, even as sweat beaded down her face, and a cold sweat caused shivers to run up and down her spine.

Ren opened his mouth to speak, but merely growled, before turning and putting on his helmet. He took two steps towards the door before turning his head ever so slightly, the mask even more terrifying drenched in shadows.

"Before your time is done, desert rat, I will show you the dark side. And then, you will know true fear." His words were bathed in rage, and his voice, made so by his mask, was like a clap of rolling thunder. As he left, the metallic door making a quiet swoosh as it opened then quickly closed, Rey fought back tears, terrified of what the future might hold, even as her mind reeled with wonder at how she had entered his thoughts.

-Kylo Ren-

How had I been so stupid!? Kylo Ren shouted to himself in his own head, a war raging beneath his mask. I let that insolent desert rat invade my own mind! I am a sith! A master of the Knights of Ren, but yet that untrained wench bested me?! Ghaw!

More than once he nearly cut a passing stormtrooper in two with a swing of his blade, but he resisted for no other reason than because he didn't want that scavenger to sense it and feel some kind of satisfaction at his reaction. Angrily, he stormed off towards the holo-deck to speak with his master.

The automatic doors slid open, and Kylo Ren found that Supreme Leader Snoke, in holographic form, as per usual, sat waiting.

That little worm General Hux must have already contacted him. To spread rumors behind my back, no doubt. Ren cursed the General in his own mind, before continuing forward towards the Supreme Leader.

"Have you retrieved the map, my apprentice?" Snoke asked, his voice booming across the domed room.

Just as Ren's mouth opned to repsond, Hux practically appeared behind him.

"No, he hasn't. It seems Ren deemed the girl enough, and let the droid escape. I have no doubt it is already in the hands of the Resistance." As he finished, he stepped up besides Ren, bowing his head slightly at the Supreme Leader. "Please, Supreme Leader, let me use the weapon now against the New Republic. Let us punish them for allowing the Resistance to oppose us. Perhaps then they will come out of hiding and we will be able to crush them."

The Supreme Leader was silent for a few moments as he thought, before finally speaking. "Go, oversee preparations, General. But do not fire the weapon. Not yet. Merely ready the weapon, then we shall wait." Hux bowed his head once more, a small, demented smile adorning his lips, before he turned and quickly walked away. Ren knew Hux wished to obliterate the New Republic, to burn away all it stood for, and he sensed that Hux truly believed his superweapon was the best way to do that. Although Hux may have wished to fire it now, merely preparing it and waiting was an impovement, in the sadistic General's eyes. After he was gone, Snoke spoke, his voice a mixture of bewilderment and controlled anger. "That girl resisted you?"

"She is strong with the Force. Untrained, but stronger than she knows." Ren said, his eyes blazing wiht anger. Not at the Supreme Leader, but at the very thought of her.

The Supreme Leader was silent for several more moments, before he locked his eyes with Ren. "So, she was the disturbance in the Force." Snoke said, less a question and more a broad statement directed to himself.

"What are we to do?" Ren asked.

"She could be a valuable asset, or our downfall." Snoke began. "I fear Skywalker may already be lost to us, sooner now than ever before to be found by the Resistance. No matter," Snoke suddenly said, a new plan forming in his mind. "Let him once more join his heathenous friends. Soon, we will have a weapon capable of bringing about his and the Reistance's downfall." A small, evil smile caressed Snoke's lips. Ren found one forming upon his own. "She is untested in the Force?"

"Yes, Supreme Leader. Untrained, and unknowing of the dark side, or the light." Ren said.

"Then you will show her." Snoke commanded. Ren smiled and bowed his head.

"Yes, my master."