Rey awoke with a start. She felt a cold, hard surface against her back. She blinked in confusion before her eyes flicked upward to the ceiling. She was met with a dark grey ceiling with fluorescent lights, a sight she was tragically familiar with.
No, she thought. She shot up from her position and glanced around the room. It was a small square shape and was completely bare apart from a door on the far wall and the metal ledge she was laying on that could hardly be called a bed. Rey felt nausea build up in her stomach, ready to come forth.
She was still with The First Order.
No No No No NOOO! She bolted out of bed. She ran to the closest wall, feeling it as if hoping it would vanish under her touch. She began panting heavily, panic overtaking her senses. Rey remembered her fight with Kylo Ren, watching him stare up at her with his nasty wound, but everything after was completely gone from her mind. Had he found some way to overpower her? Did he receive reinforcements? She could not recall a single detail, but it was clear that whatever happened was not in her favor. Now she was stuck again, trapped by the enemy.
Her movements became more aggressive, she started pounding against the walls, throwing herself back and forth in anger and fear. This could not be happening. She was supposed to beat the monster that killed Han Solo. She was supposed to escape with Finn and watch as Starkiller Base destroyed itself from the inside out.
The thought of Finn stilled her for a moment. Was he still alive? Had he even gotten off the base? He could be dead and Rey would never know. He had risked his life to save her from the enemy he feared more than anything and she had no idea if he was safe.
Tears gathered in her eyes. A sob escaped her lips and she did nothing to stop it. Finn knew she was going to be kept on Starkiller Base. Now the base was gone, the First Order scattered across the galaxy. She had no idea where she was or where she was going and the Resistance definitely wouldn't know.
For all they knew she could be dead.
Killed on Starkiller Base, by the explosion or Kylo Ren's blade. They had no idea.
She was trapped in the hands of the enemy with no hope of rescue.
She fell to her knees, wrapping her arms against her stomach. Her head fell down as a violent sob tore from her throat. She didn't care that someone was probably watching her through security footage. The overwhelming amount of despair was suddenly too much for her small body to handle.
Nobody would come to save her. Not the Resistance. Not Han and Chewie. Not Finn.
And she was once again alone.
Rey's crying ceased automatically when she felt a cold sensation run across her body. A chill of familiarity gripped her heart. Before she could react, she felt her body stiffen. She struggled against the force but to no avail. Her body was completely still. She had no time to brace herself when the door in front of her opened and behind it stood Kylo Ren.
She had just enough willpower to bring her head up to see him. He was once again wearing his mask, however rather than the cowl he wore upon their first meeting he donned a black cape. His skirts were also gone, leaving him in a tunic that went mid-thigh with black pants tucked into matching boots.
She sneered at the man, tears still streaming down her face. Her horror was soon replaced with rage.
"You murderous beast!" she seethed, "release me NOW!"
"You really think you are in a position to make demands," his voice came out sounding mechanical. It unnerved her, "I was told you had awoken just moments ago. I came to see how you were feeling. Clearly you are not in the best of sorts."
Rey blinked up at him in surprise. He came to check on her? As if he still held a small shred of humanity? Kylo Ren tilted his head to side.
"You don't believe me." It came out a statement rather than a question, and Rey could almost swear it held amusement. She wondered if he read her mind to determine that information or if she was just that easy to read.
"Why would I have reason to believe a word you say to me?" she growled. Kylo said nothing. He nodded his head to the side and two stormtroopers appeared in the doorway. One of them held a set of handcuffs. Rey could do nothing as they strode to her side and snapped the cuffs onto her wrists. They pulled her to her feet and she was released from Kylo Ren's hold. Neither looked away from the other during the whole process.
Kylo turned and walked briskly towards the exit, Rey and the guards close behind. This was the first time Rey had gotten to see the inside of a First Order Star-Destroyer. Star Killer Base didn't count to her and even then, she wasn't really sightseeing. Her shoes squeaked against the black, polished floors of the ship. Several stormtroopers and other personnel passed them, casting them subtle glances before continuing on with their duties. Rey did not like standing out as much as she did. The attention was unsettling.
They passed a large window revealing the vastness of open space. It was through the window that Rey saw the biggest ship she had ever laid eyes on. It was dark and menacing, as expected of the First Order, but she had no idea such as ship even existed. It was monstrous.
"What is that?" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. Kylo Ren didn't bother facing the window.
"That is The Supremacy. Star Dreadnaught Class." Rey swallowed on impulse. She hoped he didn't hear her.
"Are you taking me there?" she found herself asking.
"Yes."
Silence followed and Rey welcomed it. Whatever was on a ship that powerful could not be good. She tore her eyes away from the window and chose instead to stare at Ren's tall figure in front of her. As they walked she noticed a slight limp in his step. She didn't remember injuring his leg during their duel on Starkiller Base. After further examining she determined it was his left side that was injured.
Chewie's bow caster. Has he not had it looked at?
I'd prefer it if you didn't stare.
Rey gasped in surprise. The two stormtroopers eyed her under their expressionless masks before ignoring her again. Rey's gaze continued to rest on Kylo Ren.
I asked you to stop.
There's very little else to look at. And I would appreciate it if YOU stayed out of MY head, she thought back angrily. She hated when he read her mind. A shiver ran through her as she recalled the interrogation room. He had seen things inside her head that were entirely private and he flicked through them with ease, sharing every little thing that he saw aloud, only increasing her despair and discomfort.
Rey bit back tears that threatened to fall. Kylo Ren stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway. The stormtroopers and Rey followed suit. The man did nothing but stand perfectly still and Rey began to ponder if something was wrong with him. She felt the troopers to her sides tense in anxiousness, fearful that he might lash out at something for no reason. Rey's previous grieve washed away and was replaced with curiosity over his behavior.
The man started walking again, as if nothing strange had just happened. The troopers turned to each other in perplexed silence before dragging Rey along again.
Rey ran the scene over and over again in her mind. She wondered if that sort of thing was common. He was Force-Sensitive after all, maybe he felt a disturbance in the Force. But then why didn't she feel it? She didn't understand enough about the "all power force that guided their existence" well enough to determine that sort of thing.
Several minutes passed and the group entered a large hanger. It very bright and sleek, like every other part of the ship. Troopers and maintenance workers rushed around every corner. She saw row upon row of TIE-Fighters and she prayed she would be lucky enough to steal one to escape.
Kylo led them to a command shuttle like the one Rey saw on Takodana. Several troopers stood beside it, along with a red-haired man with a black coat. Kylo stopped in front of him.
"Is the ship ready, General?" he asked the ginger.
"It is indeed. Are you positive you don't require a larger unit?"
"I can handle her."
The General's face morphed into something similar to amusement.
"Yes, I'm sure you can," he replied, with a hint of sarcasm. Rey noticed Kylo clench his gloved fists. The air around him felt thick with his frustration and anger. Rey had not felt such darkness coming from one individual before. He hadn't expressed it during the interrogation or during their fight. When he spoke to her there was always a sense of calm. He studied her with such interest and intrigue, and when he saw her use the Force to pick up his grandfather's lightsaber his eyes expressed nothing but awe and fascination. Not once had he appeared to be the monster everyone described him to be.
She was not foolish, she knew the darkness existed in him.
It was this darkness that allowed him to killed Han Solo.
But she had yet to experience his anger first hand. And it almost frightened her.
"I expect the ship to be ready for lightspeed when we return," Kylo muttered deeply, the darkness still surrounding him. General nodded curtly. He knew Ren well enough not to push his luck.
With that, Kylo Ren marched into the command shuttle with Rey in tow. The ramp folded up behind Rey once she was on board. The stormtroopers led her to a set of benches and forced her to sit. She noticed Kylo was not in the compartment with them and assumed he had retreated to the cockpit to oversee takeoff.
Rey waited for the familiar jerk of a ship taking off. The engine hummed as the ship flew out of the hanger bay and out into open space towards The Supremacy. Several minutes passed in total silence where all Rey could do was stare at the stormtroopers guarding her. She was alerted to the door of the cockpit as it hissed open and out stepped Kylo Ren.
"Leave us," he ordered to the soldiers. They uttered a "Yes sir," before marching away from Rey to stand in the cockpit. The door hissed shut, once again engulfing the room in silence.
Rey was alone in a room with Kylo Ren.
She couldn't tell how he was feeling in that moment. The shroud of darkness that was once there was gone now but she couldn't read him with the mask on. She didn't like not being able to read him. He understood the Force and could pick her apart like a book, Rey on the other hand did not have that certain advantage and could only rely on her five senses. She was grossly outmatched.
"That is an accurate observation," Kylo said, breaking the silence. Rey's eyebrows knit together.
"Did your mother ever teach you about privacy? You have a nasty habit of reading my mind without my consent."
She saw him tense and internally smirked. She knew the comment about his mother would unnerve him. He deserved it. He had trampled on her love and his father's, right before killing him. He was a selfish, unfeeling monster.
"I have never needed to refrain from entering the minds of others," he told her truthfully. Snoke had told him that through fear one gains power. By demonstrating his ability to enter the minds of other people he had proven his potential to the entire galaxy. People would think twice before crossing him.
"I don't care if this is a first to you. You know how it feels to have your deepest fears out in the open. It's terrible, feeling like nothing is secret."
Kylo pondered her words. She had given him another reason why the two of them were similar. He recalled the memory of the interrogation room, when he had laid her deepest fears and desires bare for the world to see. He remembered her sorrow and desperation for him to stop but he refused. While in search for the memory regarding Luke Skywalker's location she fought against him, subsequently entering his mind in the process.
That moment still frightened him.
She did the same thing he had done to her. Crept through his mind, finding the one fear he wanted nobody to know, only now she knew. Her power had surprised him, but at the same time fascinated him. And when it was over, when he had forced her from his mind and they were free from each other's grips he felt it.
A strange connection formed between the two, one they both sensed but didn't understand. He had to understand it, find answers, but he needed her to do it.
He wanted her.
Kylo realized he had yet to comment on Rey's statement regarding the mind reading. It killed him to admit it but she was right. It was rude to always jump in and read someone's mind without warning. He certainly didn't like it when Rey did it to him, but there was more to it than that.
He wanted to teach Rey the ways of the Force. If he was to do that he would need her cooperation, her obedience, and most importantly her trust. He would have to treat her the way he expected her to treat him. It would be difficult seeing as she already hated him, but he would be patient. He would have to be.
He needed her to trust him.
"Alright then," she heard him mutter lowly through the mask. After several long moments of him being silent she had expected him not to answer.
"I'm sorry?" she asked.
"I won't read your mind anymore. Not unless you give me permission."
His answer shocked her. She had not expected him to be so relenting on the matter. A spark of energy ignited in her. If he was being genuine, then he would no longer be monitoring her private thoughts, meaning that she could plan an escape and he wouldn't know. The hope that had nearly died when she awoke that morning was alive once again.
She could still get away. All she had to do was wait for the right moment.
The ship jerked unexpectedly and Rey had to keep herself from flying from her seat. Everything went completely still. The door to the cockpit slid open and a man in a black uniform appeared on the other side.
"Lord Ren, we have arrived on The Supremacy." Kylo nodded in acknowledgement and strolled to the drop door. The two guards who had accompanied them to the shuttle strolled out of the cockpit and to Rey's side, pulling her to her feet.
"What is on The Supremacy?" she asked, almost fearing his reply. Kylo glanced over his shoulder at her, his mask betraying nothing.
"My master."
Alright! Second chapter is up! I hope everyone is happy with it. Thank you for the comments I have gotten so far. Have a wonderful day! Spread the Love!